A Giveaway, New Packet, and Fall Freebies

This is one of those fully loaded posts.  School has been crazy busy (in a good way), so I haven't done a great job taking pictures the last few weeks.  Oops!  Anyway, definitely check out below.  This might just be a Five for Thursday.  No worries!  I will have a Five for Friday, too :)

#1 - Graphing Freebie
Our first nine weeks we check to make sure that our students can organize information into a graph.  I threw this together for my team and thought I'd share.



#2 - Educents Bundle
I don't want you guys to forget about the incredible deal over at Educents.  It's rare to be able to grab $100 worth of incredible packets for $25.  If you still aren't sure, you can go CLICK HERE and go to the blog hop to see pictures of all the different packets that are offered.






#3 - Giveaway
My giveaway has one day left.  If you haven't entered, then make sure you do.  It is for my newest writing packet and my new morning work packet.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#4 - Morning Work (2nd 9 Weeks)

I finally finished my second nine weeks morning work.  I kept the same format as the first nine weeks, but adjusted the standards.  I added new skills based off of what I felt first graders would know by the second nine weeks.  For example, I've added time to the hour, subtraction word problems, proper nouns, and digraphs.

This packet covers rhyming words, nouns, proper nouns, capitalization, punctuation (periods and question marks), handwriting, sight words, digraphs, categories, reading comprehension, addition/subtraction within 10, word problems, time, number sense, comparing numbers (greater than, less than, equal to), place value, and shapes.

At the end of the packet, there are pages with the answer keys for digraphs, categories, and nouns.

Here are pictures of the first week so that you will know what to expect.  You can click on any of the pictures and it will take you to my TPT page.  I have added six pages in the preview section.







#5 - October Book Reports

I have October Book Reports done.  Seriously, I'm not kidding.  I'm really ahead of schedule.

 Like last month, there are four of them - two with regular lines and two with handwriting lines.

I'm not sure I've ever explained how I use these, but like most classrooms we are doing Daily 5 and we have book bins.  Well, we decided to move away from A.R. last year.  The only concern was how would we know if our kiddos were comprehending what they were reading.  My teammates and I decided that book reports would be great.

The next problem was trying to find just the right book report.  Well, we could never find it, so I started making these.  Our kiddos have a book form we staple to the front of the book report.  They do a book report for each book and they write it on the book form.  Oh, and to keep them from misplacing their forms, we keep the packets in our book bins.  This has worked great!  When they reach their goal, they take it to the Media Center and get a prize.  I decided today that when I have a kiddo get 25 stars (That means they have read approximately 125 books), I will let them earn a special lunch.



Hope you guys had an incredible day!

1st Grade Literacy Curriculum Bundle and Giveaway

Classroom routines are settling a bit, students are getting into the groove of things, and we are really starting to dig deeper into our curriculum!  So I have teamed up with Educents and some other bloggers to offer you this great First Grade Literacy Bundle at a huge discount for a limited time!  (And keep reading for an opportunity to win an item from my store!)



You get 18 amazing literacy items to help your learners become better readers and writers!  Included are centers, printables, posters, readers, and even a little science and social studies because those are literacy too!








There are 17 other products in our bundle to get your kids learning!  Hop along to see all the goodies you will get!  

First Grade and Flip Flops


But that's not all!   I am giving you a chance to Pin It to Win It (well you win any item from my store.)  Pin any image from my blog and enter below to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


So head on over to Educents when you are ready and stock up on amazing literacy resources for first!




Five for Friday

So, I might be a little late for my Five for Friday post, but here it is.



#1 - Writing Packet
Alright friends, I have a new writing packet and I am in love.  In case I haven't told you, these are all used in my classroom.  My kids enjoy writing SO much more when I make writing fun!  You can click on any of the pics to go grab them in my store.  Oh, and both of these have pretty easy crafts to go with the writing.











#2 - Scentos
Have I told you lately just how much I LOVE my school?  I am spoiled!  Seriously, I have a great administration, an awesome team, lifelong friends, and a group of little people that crack me up all day. By the way, have I told you that the little people call me Mrs. Wheelers?  Yep!  I need an official name change.

Oh yeah, I am talking about Scentos.  Well, my fantabulous admin had a little surprise in all the boxes this afternoon.  We got Scentos!  Seriously?  I know you guys understand how incredible this is.  I am officially spoiled.



#3 - Skate Night
Need I say more?  I have to tell you this is where I owe my Mom big time!  We used to go skating once a week.  She was basically a pro and made sure we had our own skates.  I'm pretty certain mine are still around my house somewhere.

So, I was going to just snack on my nachos, but one of my little guys came up and didn't think I could skate.  Well, I can skate quite well.  My fear is always the people around me.  After you've seen one of your students break her arm twice skating, you tend to think twice.  Well, I popped on some skates and showed that this girl has skills.   After a few minutes, he was satisfied that I could skate and I got to relax and hang with my teacher and parent friends.  Now, I'm wondering if my bones know that I have skills because I am just a little sore.



#4 - Mexican
Mmhhmmm..... dinner was great!  Got home from skating and went to eat with the hubby.  Love a cold Coke, chips, salsa, and some tacos.



#5 - Surprise
Friends, you definitely want to check out my blog tomorrow.  Some of my closest blogging friends and I have an incredible surprise starting tomorrow.  Stay tuned!  You don't want to miss out!


Alright, can't wait to talk to you tomorrow.  Hope you have a great night!

Just Because

I have to say, I am so thankful for you guys hanging tight.  I am in survival mode right now.  I LOVE blogging, but friends, I get home each night and I swear I park my car and the energy is immediately zapped from my body.  I piddle and fiddle until I have piddled my iPad down to 7% charged (it was only 25% to begin with) and I then fall into bed.

I know you know what I'm talking about because I'm guessing most of you are teachers.  If you are like me, your school is your heart.  You are running to spirit nights, skate nights, baseball games or football games for all your little people.  Oh, and I'm not talking about the little people that are blood related.  I'm talking about all the adopted nieces and nephews you have.  You are helping with Fall Festivals, painting for 5th grade plays, and throwing in a few meetings, phone calls, and tutoring sessions here and there.

Then, there's email... oh, the email drains time fast.  I think each of my email addresses (there are three... I think) have over one thousand opened messages each.  Why you ask?  Well, you can't delete the sweet ones because they are sweet.  Then, you have a principal (who is awesome) that puts quotes in her weekly emails, so you keep them because you never know when you will need that quote as a life jacket to pull you or a friend up.  Oh, and don't forget the emails that you open and you forget to read or you don't delete because you plan on going back later, but later might just be four months from now.  I think my oldest email might be from 2005.  Yep, I know... 8 years old... and that's only because I know the password to that email address.

Somewhere between the teaching, the memories, and the never ending email, you also have a dream and believe that some how not only can you work all day, but you can create at least three new things for your classroom a night, print, laminate, clean house, get on Pinterest, cook an incredible dinner (yeah, I know you know I go out to eat... skip that part), walk the dog, go to the gym, and take a two hour nap.

Doesn't that sound awesome?  In case you think I do all of that and I'm just skipping the blogging, yeah I don't.  My night really goes more like this.  I walk in the door around 6:00, sit down, eat dinner, piddle, piddle some more, panic (OMG I forgot to do the list of fantabulousness above), send one little FB message, create a list of what I did do (yes, and mark them out... that means a successful day, right?), and then fall in bed.

So, I'm saying all of this to say thank you.  You guys are awesome in ignoring the fact that I am blogging, oh, once a week right now, and all of you are being so very patient about my second nine weeks morning work packet (which by the way is SO very close to being finished).  Of course, I realize that you guys have the same crazy schedule as I do, so hang tight because yes, it is Thursday night, but tomorrow is Friday and with Friday comes a Saturday nap, a Sunday nap, and knowing by Sunday night that you are ready to dive back in and conquer the world.

Oh, before I forget, I have just a random one page freebie.  Hope you guys can use it!



I will definitely be back for 5 for Friday tomorrow.  I can't wait to show you what I've been doing with my kiddos this week.

Fun Magnet Activities

Do you guys ever feel like you need an IV installed and caffeine dripped straight into your veins?  Yes, I get the fact that Coke (a.k.a. Coca Cola) isn't the best thing in the world for me, but I seem to be able to live off of PB&J, popcorn, and Coke right now.  We are six weeks into school and I am running in so many directions at once.  I have blog ideas, TPT ideas, freebies, projects for class, and one hundred other things running through my mind.

Anyway, last week I promised you guys to blog about studying about magnets and here I am to try to deliver.  Well, that is if I can focus for more than two minutes.  I did turn Facebook off.

Alright, here are the activities I did and one or two that I didn't get around to doing, but that I know would be awesome.

Introduction:
The first thing I did was magic tricks with the magnets.  You can read more about that HERE.  The lead in went great and really seemed to hook my kiddos.  I'm not kidding.  All I have had to say the last two weeks is, "If you don't quiet down, you may not get to do the next magnet activity" and my kiddos have settled down immediately.


Activity 1: Magnet Fold & Learn Craftivity
We did an activity that I called the Magnet Fold & Learn Craftivity.  It was a huge hit with my kids.  I made an example first so that they could see what it looked like once it was cut out.  Then, they had to match the pictures to the correct side.  We have a "No Glue" rule.  This way, I can check it first.  I started that last year and it makes in much easier.  Obviously, if it's a grade the "No Glue" rule is canceled.  The author has an awesome picture on her page.  I kind of forgot to take a pic of this activity before I sent it home.

Activity 2: Pipe Cleaner Bottles
I saw this on Pinterest awhile back and thought it looked like fun.  The original author is Preschool Play.  I saved up water bottles so that every kid could have their own.   My first piece of advice is take the tops off several days before so the insides of the bottles can dry.  I took mine off of them the day before and they didn't dry completely.  Then, I thought "I'll stick them outside in the hot, Georgia sun".  Um, yeah, that actually caused more moisture to enter the bottle.

Now, back to the original story.  I gave each of my kids their bottles and they took pre-cut pipe cleaners and put them in their bottles.  You can get pipe cleaners from Michaels or Hobby Lobby.  I also gave each kid 30 or 40 little beads to drop in their bottles.  The beads were not magnetic so that my students could explain magnetic and non-magnetic to their parents.

After all of that, I passed out their magnet sticks.  Well, unfortunately the black magnets I got for my kids wouldn't work through the bottle.  I went back to Michaels and got the little, silver magnets.  These magnets were extremely strong.  We hot glued them to sticks and they worked like a charm.

Friends, I have to tell you, I think I had as much fun as the kids.  We were trying all sorts of things with our new magnet sticks and bottles.   This was definitely a hit!

Activity 3: Mini Book
I know it's horrible to post a picture when I can't offer you a freebie or tell you where to get the book, but I thought you still may be able to use the idea.  This is a little magnet mini book that my kids put together.  It tells you what a magnet attracts and what it does not attract.  It has the students do 3 examples of each.  I got it out of a Kindergarten Mailbox magazine from Oct/Nov 1998 in case you happen to have one around your house or classroom.



Activity 4: Magnet Sorting Trays
One of my favorite things to do is to put a lot of random things on trays.  For example, I usually include feathers, small nails, thumb tacks, pencils, crayons, kid scissors, dice, pennies, keys, paperclips, staples, and several other items.  Then, my kiddos have to use their magnets to sort the items into non-magnetic and magnetic.

Activity 5: Magnet Sort Activity
After we did the sorting trays, we did this little activity.  I purchased if from April Wolfe.  It's a pretty cute activity and it makes a good grade.

Activity 6: Magnets Writing Activity
I know I posted my freebie last week, but here are pictures of how they turned out.  The kids loved this writing activity and it was a nice way to tie in everything we have been learning into another subject.  I really heart opportunities to integrate subjects!






Activity 7: Hungry Hounds
I needed one more activity to complete my two weeks of fun and ran across this when searching for magnet ideas on the Internet.  This was a HUGE hit with my kids!  I brought gallon-sized baggies for my kiddos and we loaded up all of their activities for them to take home.  You can click on my picture to go grab this one.

So, these are just a few of the things I did the past two weeks.  We also did read a little from our science books and watch one science video, but I leaned heavily on projects for the last two weeks.  I have to say, I think this is the most fun I've ever had teaching science.  I hope you guys can use some of these ideas.  I know a few of them you have to pay, but I also know sometimes seeing a picture can spark an idea for me.

Talk to you guys tomorrow!