Sunday, December 1, 2013

TpT Cyber Monday and Tuesday Sale

I hope you still have some 'shopping' left in you!!  :)

It's almost time for TpT's Cyber Monday and Tuesday Sale!!



Here are some of my favorites from my TpT store that I want to share with you before your big shopping spree:

Flat Stanley: Traveling with His Flat Friends
We have already started our Flat Stanley project for the year, but this is a great activity to help the long winter months go by a little quicker!  

Snow Day Fun- Literacy and Math Pack
This Snow Day Fun Pack is full of soooo much snow fun!  There are lots of fun skill review activities in here along with some nonfiction research too.  And you can end your snow day with some yummy snow cones!  

Free Classroom Behavior Rewards
If your kiddos are getting the winter blues you might just need some new behavior rewards and this pack has 16 *free* rewards that will make your kiddos happy and save you money!  

 This December pack will you help you during these last few weeks before Christmas break!  Included is a cute Christmas present writing I do with my kiddos every year and they look adorable in the hallway! 

This January pack is full of New Year's Resolution activities along with a cute hat writing to hang up in the hallway!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving break and are ready to get back to your kiddos!  We traveled out of state to visit with family and had a great time!  I do have a mild case of the Sunday Night Blues, but only 3 more weeks until Christmas Break!  :)

I hope you enjoy all the Christmas fun in the next few weeks.  

I love this time of year!!  :)

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

So Much Thanksgiving Fun!

We are officially on Thanksgiving Break!  

It feels like Christmas Break with all the snow we have gotten today and are supposed to keep getting until tomorrow...it is a winter wonderland out there and it's b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l.

I wanted to share some of the Thanksgiving fun we have had in the last couple of weeks. We ended it all today with a fabulous Thanksgiving feast.  We (the Pilgrims) invited another class (the Native Americans) to come to our classroom and join us for our feast.  We ate turkey, pumpkin pie in a cup, and made our own butter.  Yum!  

My favorite Thanksgiving Day activity this year was these adorable Thanksgiving bracelets.  We ended up turning them into necklaces because it was easier for my kiddos, but it really helped them remember the Thanksgiving story and many of them wore them again today for our feast.  

The greatest news is that this is a FREEBIE!  If you're already done with school for the week, this is a must save for next year.  It was a huge hit with my kiddos!  Click on the picture to go download! 
Thanksgiving Story Bracelet Freebie
She also included a book to go with the story.  This was great for my kiddos to work on while I helped tie the necklaces.  

We also played Thanksgiving Math games during our Daily 4 math time.  My kiddos LOVE playing Bump and this month they practiced counting by 5's with this adorable game board. This is a FREEBIE on Lory's blog and she has counting by 10's and 100's too!  


We also practiced ABC order with this cute FREEBIE:

Thanksgiving ABC Order Cut and Paste Printable---FREEBIE

We made these cute little turkeys and hung them up in the hallway.  We wrote 3 things we were thankful for to put underneath.  This pack isn't a freebie, but it's totally worth it!  
thankful turkeys {craftivity & printables}

We used my own Night Before Thanksgiving Activity Pack for morning work and some review activities.  It's on sale for the rest of the week if you want to grab it for next year!  


Well, I am off to relax.  I am on Thanksgiving Break and I am going to enjoy it!  Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope you all enjoy your holiday with your family and friends!  

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Lots of fun SCOOT freebies!

Last week was nothing short of c.r.a.z.y.  

We had conferences Thursday evening until 9 pm, I met with my principal for my pre-conference after filling out almost 10 pages of information, took a 4 hour online violence training course, had 2 meetings for a couple of my kiddos, had morning duty for 20 minutes each morning before the bell rang, and had to make sure the house was clean because we had company over Friday night!  

Phew...I'm tired just thinking about it again!  

I was observed yesterday morning and it went really well, but I always get so nervous so I'm very glad it's over!  

We have been working really hard on double digit addition and subtraction.  My kiddos are doing pretty well at addition and subtraction individually, but when they are mixed up they often struggle- especially with double digits!  

We have been practicing during our small groups and playing some games on our iPad, Smart Board, and we played Scoot!  

I have found that my kiddos LOVE Scoot!  It's pretty easy if you've never played before.  The kiddos take their answer sheet and pencil and rotate around the room and answer a question that is on each desk.  This year my kiddos can just walk around the outside of our desks so they're pretty much moving in a circle which has been way easier for them that what we tried last year!!  

It gets them up and moving which really helps my kiddos who have trouble focusing.  I say 3-2-1 and they say SCOOT!  

Here is a freebie you can use with flashcards or make your own math facts to put on kiddos' desks:
Math Facts Practice Game: Scoot!

Here is a doubles fact Scoot freebie:
Pumpkin Doubles Scoot Freebie

I am working on making a double digit math fact Scoot game to share with you too!  I highly recommend playing Scoot with your kiddos if you haven't before.  It's a great way to keep them involved and still practice important skills.  

Here are some other math Scoot games:

Scoot Template
You can create any Scoot game with Amy's template!!  

Place Value Boogie (A Scoot Freebie)
This Scoot game is a great way to practice number sense!  

True or False SCOOT
This Scoot game will help your kiddos understand whether math equations are true or false!  

Hope you can enjoy some of these freebies and enjoy a game of Scoot!  We love it!  :)

Now I need to get ready for my post observation conference.  This new teacher evaluation process is crazy!!  I am so hoping it goes well!  :)

Saturday, November 2, 2013

November Currently

I can't believe it's already November!  Go visit Farley for the November Currently!  


Listening- Trust Me, I'm a Game Show Host is so funny!  I can't believe some of the lies they come up with!  

Loving- We went shopping last night and today and I got some really cute new Christmas decorations. 

Thinking- I can't wait to put all of them out, but Hubby says I have to wait!  :)

Wanting- I saw a new Vera pattern that I LOVE so I think I need a new bag now!  

Needing- I need to start my Christmas shopping.  Technically I've already started because I have bought a couple things, but I still have a lot to buy.  I don't want to let Christmas sneak up on me this year! 

Yummy Pin:

Rice krispie treat tree

 Here is the link: http://cookiesandcups.com/krispie-treat-christmas-tree/img_5895/ or you can click on the picture.  

I love krispie treats and they're not as loaded with calories as other holiday goodies.  Even as a non-cooking wife I could TOTALLY make this!!  :)

Now go sign up with your own Currently!  You even have an extra hour tonight to do it!  :)

Monday, October 21, 2013

Bat Freebies and on Bloglovin'!

We have had so much fun learning about bats over the last 2 weeks! 

I wanted to share some of the great resources I have found with you so I started to type up a new post about bats.  However, when I went back to see what I shared last year about bats I saw that we did the same exact activities!  

Rather than retype the same things, I'm going to link back to it HERE.  Click on the link to go get some great bat freebies!!  


My kiddos loved making bats with bat facts from Lita Lita.



You can see one of the bats on the top of this graph!  

I also wanted to share that I am now on Bloglovin'!

I am not that old, but sometimes it is crazy trying to keep up with all these social networks....Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, TpT!  

I love it, but sometimes I feel exhausted!  Now I'm off to watch The Voice to relax!  :)

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

I'm Baaaack with an Updated Halloween Pack Giveaway!!

Hellooooo!!  Anybody out there?!?!  

Is anyone still following me after a month and a half blogging hiatus?!?!  :)

The beginning of this year has been a little rough to say the least.  Every school year seems to demand more and more.  I just needed to take a break from the blogging world and keeping up with TpT.

I think I'm ready to come back now.  I've really missed blogging and sharing things.  I have taken so many pictures and I think I'll blog about that, but then I never seem to have the time to sit down and blog.  

Now I'm going to make the time!  :)

I wanted to share my Night Before Halloween Activity Pack that I have updated this year:


  

This pack is full of fun Halloween activities.  You can use them on a sub day, when you're progress monitoring your kiddos, or when you need a few minutes to get some make-up work done.  It seems like I am always needing a few minutes to get something done! 

I always read The Night Before Halloween by Natasha Wing to my kiddos every year. They love it so I highly recommend it with this pack!  Click on the book below to purchase it on Amazon!


Since I have been gone for sooooo long I am giving this pack away to the *first 10 people* who leave a comment with their email address below sharing their favorite Halloween activity as a thank you for sticking around my blog!  

Hope you enjoy it and come back to visit!  Make sure you follow my Facebook page too so you can grab some freebies that are coming!  :) 

Friday, September 6, 2013

Currently....Late Again!

I am definitely never going to be known for being on time....  :)


We have a movie on Netflix, but obviously I'm not real interested...I don't even know the name of it.  

I have felt awful this week.  The "Back to School Plague" has definitely hit me and my family.  I'm just glad I feel better than I did yesterday and Wednesday.  

I feel like I am never going to get caught up on all I need to at school...2 steps forward and 3 steps backward. 

I would love to have some ice cream...my throat is still sore and I think ice cream is the cure.   

I...need...sleep- no explanation needed.  

1. Go the gym: I really need to go to the gym on a regular basis.  That's my goal for September. 
2. Leave school earlier: I have been staying way too late at school so I'm going to try to leave earlier...really, really try...I can do it....I think.  :) 
3.  Go to a movie: I haven't been to a movie in the theater in sooo long and I would love to go.  Hopefully this month it will happen.  

Well, I am off to see if I can get Hubby to get us some ice cream.  I think I'll be able to.  :)

Now go link up with Farley so I'm not the last one!  

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Poetry Notebook Fun and FREEBIE

Today was our 8th day of school and we fully ran Daily Five today!!!  I was so proud of my first graders!  

I think this may be the earliest I have ever felt like my kiddos could do it.  We used our Smart Board to make our choices and I had kids reading to self, reading to someone, word work-ing, and listening to reading all at the same time.  I've decided to wait on work on writing because I have so many kiddos that just aren't ready to be independent with that yet.  

Then, in the middle of our Daily Five greatness we had a fire drill!  I was working with a kiddo on his DRA when it went off and the sound of the alarm literally made me jump.  I think I totally scared my little kiddo!  Oops!!

Something else I have already implemented in our classroom are our poetry notebooks.  We had our kiddos bring 3 ring binders this year instead of using folders like I have in the past.  I used my *FREE* Poetry Notebook pack for our binder cover, table of contents page, and poetry log.



I gave my kiddos a cover and wrote their name on it which is covered by the crayon in the picture:


This next picture is the inside and I hate that it's upside down.  I changed it when I saved it to my computer, but when I uploaded it here it went upside down.  :(  If anyone knows how to fix this I would love to know how!!

The purple paper in the front pocket is the parent log.  My kiddos take their poetry notebooks home every Friday and read their poems over the weekend.  I don't require this, but I do highly encourage and reward it.  This encourages reading at home over the weekend without officially assigning homework.  Parents can sign the log one time each weekend.  I don't care if my kiddos read 1 poem or 20 poems.  Once the log is filled up my kiddos get Class Dojo points.  The green paper attached to it is just an explanation for parents.  

The yellow paper is their table of contents page.  We give each poem a page number and then we write the title and page number on the table of contents.  It helps keep us organized.  I gave my kiddos 3 copies of this page on the front and back because we fill up our notebooks with so many poems that I don't want to have to add more pages later.  



Each week I give my kiddos 2 poems (front and back).  The first one is usually a phonics or sight word poem.  The one below is for our -at word family.  I have a notebook full of poems, but this year I decided to retype them so that I could make the font bigger, add an illustration, and add a place for my kiddos to write the page numbers.  I'm loving this idea.  :)



The second poem this week was called My First Day since we just started school.  The second poem is usually about a holiday or content area.  I will be using one on tally marks soon as well as apples as we begin our apple unit.  I typed this one up too and added a place for my kiddos to illustrate a picture.  This kiddo drew her at her desk and me in front of the room.  :)



I love our poetry notebooks.  My kiddos read these all the time during Daily Five and when they finish their work early.  They also enjoy showing their families how well they can read on the weekends.  :)

You can download my *FREE* Poetry Notebook pack here to get started.  I didn't include any poems because I use ones I have in books or have found online.  I'm not creative enough to make my own or I would totally share them with you!!  :)

If you have any other suggestions or ideas for a poetry notebook, I would love to hear them!  I'm always looking for new ideas to help my kiddos read.  :)

To read about what causes rain, follow my Facebook Fan Page and see what one of my kiddos told me this week!  LOVE first graders!!  :)

Monday, August 26, 2013

Homework FREEBIE and Laminator

Homework is such a tricky thing with first graders. 

I struggle every year on what to do for homework.  Part of me thinks they should do homework every night to help build responsibility and to help them understand the importance of homework and doing well in school.  Then another part of me thinks they're so young and so many of them don't have parents willing or able to help them....so the struggle continues.

Last year I tried something new.  

I had created this Chapter Book and Picture Book Literature Circle Pack a year and a half ago:


There are several jobs for students to do and one of the jobs is Artsy Arnold where my kiddos have to write "My favorite detail is..." and draw a picture of their favorite part of the book or chapter.  I started using this 'job' as homework towards the end of last year since it was something my kiddos could completely do on their own and it meant I didn't have to use a traditional reading log!!  

I loved it!  And my parents did too!  

My kiddos didn't have to just read and get a parent signature anymore.  They had to think about their favorite part of the story, write a sentence about it, and draw a picture.  All on their own!!  :)

This year I decided to start this right at the beginning of the year so I created a reading homework log.  My kiddos will just write the title of the story and draw a picture for now.  I will add more to it as the year goes on.  

You can click on the picture below to download the freebie if you would like to use it:


It's nothing fancy, but it helps my kiddos be more independent and I love that!  

Before I go, I have to share this wonderful laminator I received from MyBinding.  It works wonderfully and I love it!  




It was so easy to use.  I plugged it in, waited a few minutes until the light turned on, placed my papers in the pouches that came with the laminator and sent them through!  So easy!  




I was lucky to try this laminator out and I highly recommend it.  It has done a fabulous job on everything I have sent through it.  You can click *HERE* to go purchase it now!  You won't be sorry!  :)  

Saturday, August 24, 2013

First Week Fun with Crayon (FREEBIE) and Guitars

Whew!  This was our first week and I'm still exhausted after sleeping in this morning!  

We had so much fun this week though.  We learned our Whole Brain Teaching rules, practiced for a fire drill, started Daily Five, and made some cute craftivities!  

We read The Crayon Box That Talked during our first class meeting.  I have an autistic student again this year so we had a class discussion on how we are all 'different colors' in our classroom's crayon box and we are all an important color.  

It's a cute story if you've never read it before.  The crayons in the box realize that it takes all the different colors to make a pretty picture.  

I told my kiddos it would be really boring for me if there were 20 Mrs. Seymour's in my class!  It's such a cute story and great to use to show that every kiddo is important.  


After reading this story we made these cute crayon craftivities from Cara Carroll! Click *HERE* to go visit her blog and see all of her crayon color cuteness! My kiddos had so much fun curling their arms and legs.  It's always interesting to see who can follow directions the first week of school with a craft.  :)



 Here's a close up!  Sorry it's sideways!!


We also made guitars this week to go with our Rock Star theme.  I took pictures of my kiddos on the first day and I will hang those up next week between their guitars. 

Click *HERE* to go purchase your own guitar! It's actually an end of the year craft, but I use it at the beginning and at the end of the year.  They say First Grade Rocks right now and at the end of the year they will say First Grade Rocked!  :)  She has included signs up to fifth grade.  
This is my display in the hallway:
 The banner on top says Mrs. Seymour's Rock Stars.  

Here is a close up:
It says First Grade Rocks on the top and I love first grade on the white part.  

Well I'm off to a late breakfast with my dad....his treat!  :)  Then I need to relax after such a long week.  Have a great weekend friends!  

Don't forget you can now follow me on my Facebook Fan Page and Twitter!  I feel so grown up and techy!!  :)




Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Teacher Tired and Back to School Freebies

Teacher tired

All I can say about this quote is AMEN!  

We had a fabulous first day of school today, but I am exhausted!  My little kiddos did great.  Not one asked to go home early or say I miss my mom.  Woohoo!  That's a successful first day right there!  :)

If you don't follow me on facebook, check out my fan page to see my personalized computer backgrounds!  

I have four student computers in my room and I created personalized backgrounds for Open House yesterday.  I number my computers so now I just have it right on the computer and each with a different color.  They are so cute!!  :)

I want to share a couple back to school freebies with you.  This first one isn't mine, but my kiddos loved it!  Kathy over at First Grade a la Carte shared a couple of these puzzles a few weeks ago.  Click the link *here* to go to her blog to download it.  She also came out with a whole pack of puzzles if you want to purchase more!  The kiddos cut out the capital letters and then matched them to the lower case letters....really tells you a lot about what they know on the first day of school.  

We also read The Night Before First Grade by Natasha Wing and used my Night Before First Grade- Back to School Pack.  


One of the activities we did was First Grade Worries.  We discussed what we were nervous about and how/why we weren't nervous anymore.  This little girl was nervous about getting her clip moved down, but realized that if she followed the rules she wouldn't get her clip moved!  :)  

I love her drawing of my curly hair...looks just like me!  And my color 'wheel' is actually a guitar so her picture is very accurate!!  Sorry it's sideways, but it was so cute I had to share!  If you click *here* you can download this page for free.  

It is going to take me awhile to get used to getting up so early again.  I am so tired I hope this post makes sense!!  :)  

Night!  Have a great week!  

Saturday, August 17, 2013

I'm on Facebook and B2S Sale!!

I am almost always late to every party.  I try to keep up, but being on time just isn't in my genes.  

I should have done this forever ago, but I am finally on FACEBOOK!!  :)  You can click here to go my Fan Page

I have mentioned before that I send out postcards each year to my kiddos and I posted a picture of them yesterday on my Facebook page.  Of course my picture is lopsided, but you can still see them.  I have a Rock Star theme again this year so I thought my postcards were so cute!  

This is one party I will not be late for: Teachers Pay Teachers is having their huge B2S sale on Sunday and Monday!!


My store along with many others will be 20% off and then don't forget to type in the code: BTS13 for another 8% off for a total of 28% off!  

I will be stocking up on a few back to school goodies and some fall goodies to get through the next few months!  

Some of my best sellers that I will be using are:

My kiddos love mailing their Flat First Graders to family and friends across the country!! 

We also have a lot of fun with this pack learning about trade with a book trade and having a Career Day.

This pack will help me get through the first few weeks of school for sure!!  

This pack was a huge hit with my kiddos last year!  You can use these free rewards however you want.  I used them with Class Dojo and my kiddos were so into them all year long!  

I'm off to do a few more things in my classroom before my new little friends come next week.  I will also be doing some serious shopping tonight and emptying my cart tomorrow!!   

Have a great weekend!  :)

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Meet and Greet Gift Tag Freebie

Our school has a Parent/Teacher Meet and Greet the day before school begins so that our kiddos get a chance to see their classrooms, meet their teachers, and bring in their school supplies if they want to.  

It's really nice being able to meet parents and family members before the kiddos come on their own.  Sometimes first graders 'think' they know how they are getting home until 3:00 rolls around and they suddenly don't remember if they are going to ride the bus, walk, or get picked up in mom's car!  :)

I try to spend at least a few minutes with each family to answer any questions, reassure my new kiddos that first grade is really going to be awesome, and ask a few questions myself.  

I also like to give my kiddos a little treat so that they feel more comfortable in their new classroom and look forward to coming back!  I have a Rock Star theme (and polka dots too) so I created these little tags below:



These tags can definitely be used with any theme though!!  

You can download them for free in my TpT store or my TN shop by clicking on the links!

I put a hole punch in the corner and then attach a glow stick.  I did this last year and my kiddos LOVED it!  



I have one for the girls and one for the boys.  I have these tags all ready to go.  I wait and attach the glow sticks right before the kiddos come in so they last longer.  

And you can get the glow sticks at the Dollar Store!!  I bought packages of 7 for $1 which I thought was a great deal.  

I love using these for Meet and Greet, but they could easily be used anytime throughout the year.  

Hope you enjoy them!  :)