Teacher Appreciation Sale

It's never too early to start planning for next year! May 9 - May 10 my store will be 28% off! Make sure to use code: THANKYOU17. 

My social Studies bundle is seriously such a steal right now! It is a whole year of pre-made lessons with foldables, vocab and quizzes. It is perfect for 2nd and 3rd grade! It covers all the TEKS plus its highly engaging and hands on. Your students will LOVE it! 

Social Studies Bundle!!!

Make sure to check out my science units as well! I plan to have a whole years worth of science plans and resources to compliment my social studies interactive notebooks completed by the end of summer! Happy Teaching!

Parts of a Seed

I LOVE studying plants this time of year! It is one of my favorite science concepts to teach. Mainly because, I  personally love to garden, and watching the kids plant their own seeds and flowers always puts a smile on my face! 

When talking about plants I usually start by discussing living vs. nonliving.

Next, we talk about the needs of a plant. I usually play this corny, but catchy, video for the kids to watch on the projector.  We watch it a few times and sing along. Sometimes we come up with dance moves and hand gestures to help us remember the words.

Needs of a Plant Video! <----- CLicK HeRe!

Ater that, I create an anchor chart and have the kids make a new cover page in their notebooks. I usually have the class copy down the anchor chart into their journal either while I'm teaching as notes or after during centers or extension work. The kids like to recreate the anchor chart in their journal because I let them color and make it their own. They will jot down connections they have and sometimes add pictures that help them remember what we talked about during whole group.

For vocabulary, I show the class our mini vocab posters either by printing them and laminating, or pulling up my PDF and displaying it on the board. On days when I have extra time,  I will have the kids use the vocab cards as a write the room activity and complete the foldable. I have students draw their own pictures and copy down the definition in their notebooks.

The next day is much more exciting. I have the kids get their hands dirty by dissecting a seed. I pass out a lima bean and show students how to break it open. We talk about the different parts and I make an anchor chart to display around the room.

Next I have students label their copy of the diagram and glue into their notebook.

After students have labeled their diagram, I pass out the "Parts of a Seed" foldable and talk about the purpose of each part. The class draws pictures and writes what they have learned. 

Once everyone is finished, we plant our own seeds to observe and watch grow throughout the weeks to come. I like to pick a hardy plant that grows quick and requires low maintenance. Beans are always a good choice. I have herd marigolds are too. If you time this lesson right, you could plant a pretty flower and at the end use the flower as a mother's day gift! I have the kids create a seed journal and write their observations down every other day. 

If you would like a copy of the fodables, resources, and my lesson plan it is in my TPT shop. This is only two days worth of the lesson plans and resources included in the packet. I will write another post about flowers and what we do for that!

CLICK HERE

SALE!

I love the month of February- minus the weather! Although, in Texas right now, it is 70 degrees, so I can't complain! Great things happen in February! One being the TPT sitewide sale!

Use the code LOVETpT at check out. 

Tip: rate any purchases you make to receive credit that can be used on future purchases! 

Hop on over to my blog! ------>>>HERE!!

Inauguration Day, Hooray!

January 20th is fast approaching! I recently downloaded The Animated Teachers font package and OMG so freaking cute! 

CLICK HERE!! <-- for Amy Groesbeck Fonts!

I had to make something immediately with them! As of right the product is free in my TPT store. I don't know for how long, so grab it now before it is too late!

This is an awesome product. Easy to use and implement in your class. This would make a great Reading, Writing, and Social Studies Grade. The writing prompt could be used to create mini presentations on Inaugural speeches. You could talk about the importance of an Inaugural Address and create a list of what the class thinks the president should talk about. Then have the students apply what they know and create an Inaugural Address related to class topics and issues. 

CLICK HERE!  for a copy!

Happy Teaching 

Christmas Resources!

It is always fun to celebrate the Holidays, especially sharing and learning about others traditions in the classroom. I love the spend this time talking about different cultures and diversity in the classroom. The United States is a huge melting pot and because of its multicultural nature it's important to teach children about tolerance and how to celebrate our uniqueness. 

One of my favorite things to do around this time, is to teach children about holidays around the world. You can find tons of information and ideas on Pinterest about Christmas Around the World. I have been pinning like crazy to my Christmas in the Classroom Board. If you would like to follow it or become a collaborator I'd love to add you! 

Christmas in the Classroom Pinterest Board!

Here are some awesome blogpost on Christmas right now:

Amy Lemons: Reindeer Roundup - This blog post has a ton of cute activities she has done. It is all about Reindeer!

Reindeer Roundup --- CLICK HERE!

Another awesome teacher who has some adorable Christmas Activites is Abby Mullins @the Inspired Apple!

She has created these ADORABLE December themed anchor charts. They are sure easy to use. You just print the pieces out, cut, and then have students complete the finishing touches.

December Themed Anchor Charts- CLICK HERE!

There are so many great products out there. I love Christmastime. Kids love this time too and incorporating some holiday fun into your curriculum is a great way for your class to stay engaged and entertain before Christmas Break!

Happy Teaching!

TPT CYBER Monday Sale!

Its' time save! CYBER MONDAY sale. My store is current'y 20% off plus 10% site wide on TPT. 

Stock up and save on some of my time saving and easy to print materials
- Social Studies Interactive Bundle - A whole years worth of material and curriculum- regular price is $75 and on sale for $48! 

-Write the Room Activities! - Landmarks, Landforms, TX revolution, and more!

And my favorite!!!! Science interactive Notebook Bundles!

The sale is from November 28th -  November 29th. Be sure to use promo code: CYBER2016 when checking out!!

If you want more ways to safe- leave feedback on products you purchase! TPT gives credit for every purchase you make and feedback you leave! 

HAPPY TEACHING! 

Christmas Activities in the Classroom

Every year, after Thanksgiving it is always that time where the class is crazy and the holidays are all that is talked about in the classroom. It is hard to get students (and yourself) to not constantly think about those magically 14+ days of winter vacation. The kids are crazy and time goes by so fast but SOO SLOW! I love this time of the year, because it is always so much fun to incorporate holiday fun in the class! 

I just uploaded a Christmas activity pack that focuses on Christmas in the United States. I made sure to make two versions of  the reading passage- one focuses on the meaning of Christmas and ties in the religious background, while the other doesn't. 

The activities included are: 

2 Reading passages- Text only (1 with a small religious component and one without) A Reading passage with pictures

10 Christmas fact cards- Write the room activity and Recording sheet

Flipbook- no cutting necessary

4 Writing prompts 

These are great activities to print out and do as a whole class, small groups, or in centers as an extension activity. If you would like your own copy CLICK Here!

AMAZING stock photos

I recently joined this amazing Facebook group created by Charity Preston. She is the author of Teaching Blog Traffic School. She basically writes about tips and tricks for product development and teaching resources made by teachers for teachers. She is super cute and very knowledgeable! I really like her and what I have read so far. Go check her out!! Click Here!

One resource she mentioned on the Facebook group was called The Stocks. It basically is a warehouse-galore of free high quality images and stock photos at your finger tips. I am in love with it. I am constantly looking for vivid prints and specific photos for the classroom and Teacher Pay Teacher products- this will for sure be one of my go to resources when making products or activities for my students! 

Go check it out! 

http://thestocks.im 

They have some super cute stuff! Best part the images have all had their copyrights released so you can download, modify, use them commercially, and distribute royalty free! 

Besides using this for products on TPT, I can see this being an awesome website for students to find photos for class projects and research papers. So far the images I have seen have all been school appropriate and seems MUCH less risky than Google Images!

Happy Teaching!

Ruby Bridges!

Today is the anniversary of Ruby Bridges first day of school! On November 15, 1960 Ruby Bridges was escorted into William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana.  If you don't already own the book I found this awesome read aloud on YouTube to show to your kids. 

Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles and illustrated by George Ford READ ALOUD 

In addition to this resource I created an easy to print (no cutting necessary) flip book to go along with the book! it is FREE- for a limited time- on my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

 CLICK HERE! for your own copy 

Happy Teaching!

Summer Projects

This summer has been full of projects and to dos. Not nearly close to being done but crossing one thing off at a time. I am so excited about my new Workshop labels I created for my classroom. I keep going back and forth on my color scheme. My LOVE for Johanna Gaines is so intense that I want all things metal, wood, and greenery. But... I have to remind myself this is a classroom... not my house. Although, I will end up spending just about the same amount of time (maybe more there). So without further ado.... 

Project 1: Math and Reading Workshop Labels 

I created two different versions of my labels. One is black with a pop of color and the other is color with white font. I decided for my room I am going to use the black and color. But, on my TPT you can still dl the colorful ones too (they are all included in the product)

Here they are in my anchor chart...

I am pretty pleased with how they turned out!

Project #2: Math and Reading Workshop bins

To help keep myself sane and really get the best use out this product, I knew I needed a way to help keep all of the papers and materials organized. This is where I have to shoutout a little thanks to all the amazing teachers who kept posting about the 40% off sale at Michaels this week. I have been wanting those beautiful colorful plastic drawer bins for ALONG TIME! but.... they are $$$$$. and I am cheap. Originally the bins are around $80, but on sale they were $30 plus 15% off with my teacher discount. Although I have been drooling over the rainbow colored shelves, I just knew I would get tired off it, and i wanted something easier on the eyes. I ended up buying the clear ones...

I LOVE how they turned out! The labels added the pop they needed. I plan to have my students keep their math and reading workshop folders in the group drawers. Along with their workbooks and any reading club books that they are working on. In the other drawers I plan to keep the materials that they need for each center. For the extra drawers I am thinking I will add extension activities that they can work on when they are done. Maybe some type of project they can complete. For the resource drawer I am going to keep hardcopies of a reading log, partner accountability talk, and any other documents the kids might need to add to their workshop folders... notes, vocab, posits, anything that they might need to help them work at their stations. Once I get my workshop up and running I will know for sure what goes where, but for now I am really excited about the potential this has!

Project#3 My Teacher Toolbox!

I am amazed at how this turned out. My mother-in-law gave me an old plastic 22 drawer tool box to give to my husband. Ha yea I gave it to him, that and a can of mint color spray paint. (He was happy to help)

I am so thankful that he agreed to paint this for me. He is the best! I really love the mint color. It is calming and not too loud. I think it will look nice on my desk (hopefully not turn into my kitchen junk drawer). I laminated and hot glued the labels on. It was pretty easy. You can get the labels on my TPT store as well. 

Now off to create more things... don't know whats next tho. There is a BIG list...

If you would like your own labels click on the links!

Math Workshop Labels

Reading Workshop Labels

Teacher Toolbox

Enjoy your last few weeks of summer!

Reading Workshop

Since moving to fourth grade, I have been doing a lot of reading on how I want to set up my reading block time. I have never been a fan of using the basal! The stories are generally not authentic and boring. I have always loved the idea of literature circles and book clubs. The only problem is, I don't make enough money to purchase 20 chapter books each time I want to start another book club. If only teacher's were paid more...

Back when I taught in Houston, my old district used Lucy Calkins Writers workshop. I was never trained on it, but I am still hopeful one day it will happen... The thing I love about Lucy Calkins is that she uses mentor text throughout all her lessons. Books you choose that you know your students will enjoy. I also love that her philosophy that students need to read much as possible. I know sounds obvious... but with limited time in the day most people create reading blocks where students aren't reading deeply and authentically. 

My goal for this year is to create a reading block that fosters a love for reading. I want my students to LOOVVEE reading! I look back on my experiences growing up, and remember hating reading because of the old boring text books and basal readers. Sorry but end of the text comprehension questions are LAME! reading is more than that! It should be that time when students escape to uncharted territories and imagine themselves in the world of their favorite characters. 

So, as a result, I have started my next project! 

I wanted to have my reading curriculum mapped out and ready to go for when school starts! My goal is to get all the units done... we will see... Each unit focuses on a different type of genre. What makes this great is that ANY story/chapter book can be used to teach the lesson plans. But, I did include suggestions.

In each unit I have included the TEKS and the Common Core Standards. As well as an overview of teaching points to help map out your calendar.

I decided I wanted my lesson plans to be brief and straight to the point. I know a lot of reading workshop units that are sold like this are very wordy and have directed "say this prompts". I did not want that! I am trying to be practical... no one has that amount of time to read all of that, especially when you have 4 other subjects to teach. 

Here are some sample lesson plans and handouts that go with them.

I am really excited to use these lesson plans and handouts in my class. I am hoping this will help create the reading environment that I am striving for. Unit 1 and 2 are on my TPT now. Unit 3 should be uploaded by the end of the week! For my Reading Workshop Units click HERE!

Happy teaching!