Extra Chance for Giveaway and New Treasures Unit Freebie

I've decided to add a bonus chance to enter my giveaway for $25 to TPT. I've been noticing my old blog button on lots of blogs. I know it's a hassle to change it out but I have this super cute new button. So if you add or change to my new blog button on your blog, you can have 2 bonus entries. Be sure to leave your email address. If you've already changed to my new button, that counts too.

Click here to enter my giveaway.

Also, my new Treasures unit is now available on TPT and it's on sale until Tuesday. Check out some images from the unit. You'll find a little surprise below the images.

Click on any of the pictures to go to my TPT store.

Click here to grab the er and est freebie.

Enjoy!

End of Year Sale

Everything in my store is 20% off from today (December 29) through January 2. Now is a great time to stock up on activities for the new year. I plan on posting my next Treasures unit (maybe 2) before the end of the sale. Happy shopping!

Click the image to go to my TPT store.

11 in 11 Linky Party

 I'm joining in a fun linky party hosted by Kristin at A Teeny Tiny Teacher and Hadar at Miss Kindergarten.

11. Favorite Movie You Watched

I'm a bit of a movie junkie so this question is usually hard for me. But, this year, I actually do have a favorite movie. I absolutely loved "The Help." I was worried that it wouldn't be nearly as good as the book but I was wrong. If you haven't seen it, make sure you do. It will make you cry and laugh. I usually don't like watching movies more than once but I could watch this one over and over again.

10. Favorite TV series
There are two TV series that I really love and I can't pick between the two. 

 My favorite nerds. Who doesn't love Sheldon?

 Modern Family just makes me laugh hysterically every Wednesday.

9. Favorite restaurant

 I love lots of restaurants. One local restaurant that I love is Sullivans. Everything on their menu is amazing. I also love Carabba's. I can't get enough of the Pollo Rosa Maria. Yummy!

8. Favorite New Thing You've Tried

 Well, blogging was new to me in 2011. I'm loving the community of teachers that I've found through the blogs. It's really helped me get through a difficult year at school.

7. Favorite Gift You've Received

One of my sweet students loves to paint and she painted this picture of me. Adorable!

6. Favorite Thing You've Pinned

 Oh wow! This is hard! But I would have to say my In a Pikle bag. I got one for my mom, my sister-in-law, and myself for Christmas. These things are amazing and make a great gift.

http://www.inapikle.com/

5. Favorite Blog Post

 I guess my favorite blog post is the one that has had the most views. My classroom songs have been a bit hit. You can view the post by clicking here.

4. Favorite Accomplishment

 Reaching 400 followers on my blog. I am amazed at that number!

3. Favorite Picture

 I know it's bad but I don't have many pictures of me from the year. The girls in my family have had a blast this year going to Spirited Art and painting. It's a fun place to go and paint for fun.

My mom, my aunt, and me on our first trip.

My mom, my two aunts, my cousin's fiance and me on our second trip.

2. Favorite Memory

  My trip to Destin this summer gets me through the long days of school.  I can't wait to go back!

1. Goal for 2012     

  My goal for 2012 is to get more organized. This year has been so busy that I've not been great about keeping things together. My house and my classroom have been a mess. I plan on doing better in 2012! I also want to start back on my exercise routine. I worked out five times a week before I had my knee surgeries. Now, I just can't make myself go because I can't do near as much as I used to.

Don't forget to enter my 400 follower giveaway while you are visiting!

Click here to enter.

Also, head over to my friend Heather's blog and enter her Target giftcard giveaway.

400 follower giveaway

I've hit 400 followers! I'm so excited about reaching this milestone that I am having a great giveaway. As a big fan of TPT, I thought I would give away a $25 gift certificate. If you are like me, you have a growing wishlist so this is the perfect opportunity to start the new year off with new items for your classroom.

Here's how you can enter:     (Please leave your email address with each entry!!!!!)
(1) Follow my blog or leave me a comment if you already do. (1 entry)
(2) Follow my TPT store or leave me a comment if you already do. (1 entry)

Click here to go to my TPT store.

(3) Rate one of my products on TPT. Please let me know what you rated.

(4) Follow me on Pinterest or let me know if you already do.

(5) Blog about my giveaway (2 entries)

     Be sure to leave the link for your blog post and leave 2 separate comments.

The giveaway will end on Monday, January 2nd at midnight. I will choose a winner on Tuesday, January 3rd.

Well, that's it. Good luck!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you! I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing holiday!

Check back soon! I plan on having a great 400 follower giveaway next week.

A Christmas Wishlist from a Teacher

Whew! I survived my Christmas party today and it went really well. I had lots of parents and grandparents to help and I could just walk around and take pictures. It was wonderful.  Tomorrow is a half day plus it is Polar Express day. We can even wear our PJs. I am all about that.

At lunch today, my teammates and I were talking about what we want for Christmas this year. My standard response this year is, "I want it to be May." This has been a challenging group of kids, to say the least.

This got me thinking about some other things that a teacher would want for Christmas.
 Here's my top ten list:

Graphics from Dianne J. Hook

(1) Summer vacation to get here faster

(2) Letters to parents to go out like the howlers in Harry Potter. You know, the ones where they yell the information and it goes directly to the right person. Not that I would want it to scream but, then, parents would have no excuse not to know about something. (Is anybody else tired of typing a newsletter each week and only a few parents read it?)

(3) A longer lunch break--My friends who aren't teachers don't understand why I can't ever go out to eat lunch?

(4) Papers that would grade themselves. I HATE grading papers more than anything.

(5) Technology that would always work. It never fails when I have something big planned that my Activboard quits working or the Internet is too slow.

(6) Pencils that would sharpen themselves. I could sharpen pencils for hours a day and there would still be not sharpened pencils in the "Ready to Write" pencil cup. I think I have a pencil monster in my room.

(7) For it to always be nice weather during recess. (Although I do love Adventures to Fitness)

(8) Kids that are unable to tattle (pet peeve of mine)

(9) Parents who work with their children at home --(I do have some good ones this year)

 (10) Everything you need for your classroom without having to spend your own personal money

I would love to hear what you have on your Teacher's Christmas list.  Leave me a comment with what you would like to add.

Also, please head over to Step into Second Grade with Mrs. Lemons. She is giving away a font CD from DJ Inkers featuring all the fun fonts below. Plus, she has an amazing blog that you need to check out.

Splish, Splash, Animal Baths

I've been working on my next Treasures unit and it's finally finished. Sorry for the delay! Here are some images from the unit.

Click here to check out this unit.

Currently

Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade is hosting a Currently linky party. I thought I'd join in on the fun.

Join in on the fun by visiting Farley at her blog.

Triple consonant blends freebie

This week, we are working on triple consonant blends. My kids this year love to create lists of words as a class and then write the words on a page of their own. I usually bind these into a book so they can read them during Read to Self. It's amazing to me that these books are the most popular books in the classroom library.  I created a couple of pages for them to brainstorm triple consonant blends and then cover pages if you want to bind them into a book.
Here's what the covers look like:

This is an example of the brainstorming pages.

Click here to download the freebie.

Please leave me a comment below if you download the freebie so I can know how many are downloaded. Enjoy!

Winter homework passes freebie

Last week, I sent home a project for the families to do from my Christmas Activity pack. I asked the families to write down a cookie recipe so we could make a class cookbook and the kids can practice their how-to writing. Well, apparently, most people don't make cookies anymore. I had no idea. I had only 3 people turn the paper in. Not much of a cookbook. So I decided that these kiddos should earn a free homework pass for the extra effort. I created a few winter themed homework passes to use in my class. I made two different versions for a week with no homework or a day with no homework. Click on the pictures to grab the freebies.

Christmas freebies for you

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. This time of year is so busy and my class is extra demanding. I've been finding tons of great ideas on blogs and Pinterest to do with my class. Since we go until the 22nd (again, I find this crazy, just to let you know),  I guess I have plenty of time.
Here's a cute ornament I found on Pinterest that we finished this week. We hung them on our school's Christmas tree in the lobby.

I have some freebies for you from my Christmas Activity unit. I hope you can use them in your classroom.

Click here to download the freebies.

You can find the whole unit by clicking on the image below.

I was about to say happy Friday but it's only Wednesday. I can't get my days straight this week.

Dinosaurs and Christmas

Okay, I know the title sounds crazy but we are studying fossils this week along with trying to fit in some Christmas goodies.
I found this amazing anchor chart by First Grader at Last on Pinterest and just had to do it for our study of fossils. You can check out her anchor chart here.
Here's my version:

I drew a body and the kids created all the tools Pete needs to do his job. They really amazed me at their creativity. This activity is definitely a keeper! After the activity, I gave them their own copy of Pete the Paleontologist and let them add their own tools. Here a few completed by my kiddos.

You can grab your own copy here.

This week, we have also worked on adding -ed to verbs to make them past tense.  If you haven't purchased the Teacher Wife's unit on -ed and -ing, you need to head over and grab a copy. It is amazing and a great way to teach these verb patterns.

Her picture of -ed in the unit is of an old man and an old woman. So cute! So the kids created their own -ed picture to remind them that -ed verbs happen in the past. Here are a few examples of their work:

 Dinosaurs

 A dinosaur eating an old lady

 A saber tooth tiger and a dinosaur

 A dodo bird because they are extinct

We also worked on some Christmas goodies today because I had a little extra time.
Here are some trees we created from my Christmas unit. I love how they turned out.

You can check out my Christmas unit by clicking on the image below.

We also did a fun activity with summaries. We read the story, "Mooseltoe" and wrote a summary.

After writing the summaries, the kids wanted to draw a picture of the moose with this "moosetache" decorated like a Christmas tree. If you haven't read the story, the moose forgets to buy a Christmas tree because he was so busy getting ready for Christmas. He can't find a tree so he ends up decorating his "moosetache" as a Christmas tree.  I think these drawings turned out so cute. I have some artistic kids this year!

Have a wonderful Friday! I can't wait until the weekend!