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April 26, 2015

Some BIG News on This Fine Sunday Morning...

Ladies and gents, I have some pretty big news to share. I thought this news might best be announced alongside one of my favorite linkies... The Sunday Scoop!


Take a look at my scoop today... Do you see the big announcement??


That's right, people! I'm moving to a new grade level next year! It has been announced that I will be moving to **drum roll please** 


I am very excited. I adore Kindergarten, but I am the type of person who embraces and sometimes even craves change, so I am excited for this new challenge. I normally teach the second grade age group at the community theater I work for and I already know I LOVE that age range. They are still cute and cuddly but are much more independent. I am excited.

If you teach second and have a blog, Pinterest board, or TpT store I need to know about or follow, sound off in the comments! I'd love to start getting my head together for next year!


AND, don't forget that there's a giveaway going on in my previous post! Don't you love Jungle Learners' product swaps?? Click the button below to go to my post to enter AND make sure you scroll all the way down and click through the other giveaways! There's a LOT this time!!!



April 25, 2015

Time for a Product Swap!

It is one of my FAVORITE things to do on this little bloggy of mine.... a product swap! I love trying out new things, discovering other blogs and resources created by fellow teachers, and trying new things! Thanks to Melissa from Jungle Learners, these product swaps are perfect for that and super fun to share! Click the image below to check out the other swaps going on!


This time, I swapped with Joya at Live, Love, Serve, Teach. Her store is so sweet and colorful and it was hard to choose a product to try out! She chose my Dice Games for Math Centers pack, so make sure you head over to her blog to check that out, because she'll be GIVING ONE AWAY! :)


I chose her Spring Butterflies Uppercase and Lowercase Letters Matching set!


This is certainly not a new skill for my kinders this late into the school year, however, I had a very specific student in mind for this pack. I have a student who is struggling big time. Her behavior is very disruptive, she is difficult to motivate, and her academics are extremely low. I am always thinking about her and thinking about ways I can get this student excited to learn. Behavior issues put aside, she is not a typical girly girl usually. For the majority of the school year she has had an obsession with dinosaurs. I have noticed though lately, that she has been starting to wear dresses to school and she has been drawn to more typical "girly" stuff. So I thought, maybe she wants a change.

I picked this product from Joya's store specifically for her... and I'm glad I did! It is timely right now for the season we are in and my little nugget loved it.

I have to give you a little story here about what happened this week. My classroom is a teeny tiny portable in HOT central Florida. Well, the A/C broke in the classroom and there was no way we were having class with a thermostat that read 93 degrees... So I was moved to a completely empty classroom. I brought clipboards, center materials, and everything we needed short of tables and chairs. So excuse the pictures of this product in use!


The set included two uppercase letter cards of each letter and two lowercase letter cards. I had them separated for two students to work on with guidance, but the kiddos decided they wanted to work together, so the cards got combined. With this specific student, if she wants to do something a little differently, I am TOTALLY okay with it. The fact that she actually wanted to do this was enough for me!


I love how it turned into a color sort as well! Later (which I didn't get a picture, sorry!!!), they sorted them in ABC order. The little boy did most of the work there as that is a skill baby girl over there struggles with, but they worked together and he helped her so much!


So cute.


So proud! Even though they are both lowercase, she wanted me to take a picture. I let her call the shots that time. ;)

I also used Joya's product as a clean up game. Little princess didn't want to clean up. She wanted to go bother some other students working on a Dr. Seuss writing activity instead... So I devised a plan. I told Little Mister to tell Little Miss a letter, she would find those cards and hand them to him. He would stack them in the little bag I had for them. It lengthened the time of clean-up, but it was worth it. She was learning and practicing and I wasn't the one who had to pick up all those cards!!!

And now to give one away! It's perfect for this time of year and a great resource. I have thought of ways I can use this with other groups of students: using them as help with putting words in ABC order, hiding them around the room like a scavenger hunt, draw a card and tell me a word that starts/ends with that sound, there are tons of possibilities! Be sure to enter below for your chance to win a copy!





a Rafflecopter giveaway


Check out the links below for more giveaways and be sure to go to Joya's blog for a chance to win my Dice Games for Math Centers pack!

April 19, 2015

FREEBIE ALERT!

Ahhh, another weekend is almost over! When is the end of your school year? I only have 6 and a half more weeks left! That being said, here's another Sunday Scoop! And keep reading, because there miiiiiight be a new freebie in town at the bottom of this post. ;)


Anyone else totally in love with this new "adult coloring book" trend? I've been a doodler for a long time now, but apparently some doodlers are turning their work into awesome coloring books! My husband got be some gifts a few weeks ago (for no reason!!! Love him!) and I'm totally addicted. Hope I can squeeze some in today. It's so relaxing!

SO MUCH FUN.



Alright, now for the moment you've been waiting for: a new FREEBIE! I am so excited about this one because this week begins one of my favorite Science units we do in Kindergarten! Day time and night time! I have a freebie pack and a full pack that is loaded with centers, interactive notebook pages, no prep printables, and emergent readers. I'm getting mine all printed and prepped for the week. Can't wait!

Click here for the free sampler!

And click here to see the full product!


Don't forget to leave feedback on any purchases you make so you can get TpT credits to use towards future purchases! And even if it is a freebie, the creators really appreciate a nice comment. :) Enjoy!

April 12, 2015

Another Sunday!

Last week was a crazy long one with it being the week after Spring Break. My students were tired and cranky by Friday AND my AC broke in my portable. In central Florida, that's a big deal... That being said, I can't believe this weekend is almost over and I have another full week ahead with very little planning done for it. I just couldn't stay in my classroom with no AC! So this Sunday Scoop is an exasperated one.


You know how I love this linky!



Anyone else stoked about Game of Thrones tonight! I feel like it has been FOREVER since it has been on!


April 3, 2015

April Currently and a FREEBIE!

Hooray, it's April! The weather is warmer, I'm on Spring Break, and we're getting down to the wire on this school year. I love Spring! It is a little hot in my neck of the woods (Central Florida), but I am so glad to shed those jackets and sweaters!

A new month means a new Currently! Thank you Farley from Oh Boy Fourth Grade!



As I promised in the title of this post, I have a new freebie up! I have to explain a bit on this one. This year, I'm in a portable... with no closet... no cabinets... no storage whatsoever. I was provided with some tiny metal cabinets but other than that, I was on my own. My sister-in-law gave me her old giant DVD shelf which has been great for little things, like cups of dice, popsicle sticks, flash cards, etc. As the year has progressed, I've struggled keeping organization with my center materials. The Ziploc baggies are getting old (or lost) and those envelopes are a pain!

THEN... I found a bunch of old empty DVD cases... which I thought, "Those would fit in that DVD shelf perfectly, HELLO!" So I put together some cute covers to slide in, directions/materials needed on the back, and now I have easily accessible and organized center materials.


I decided to put the template I created in PowerPoint in my store for FREE so you can make your own! The PowerPoint is already in the correct size to cut and slip in the case. The template is editable so you can create covers for your own materials or match your classroom theme/decor/personality! Click the image below to get your FREEBIE!


The center materials shown in the example above are from my Dino-Mite Math Centers pack. Click the image below to see the full product.