Starting School and Stocking Up Sale

Have you started your school year already?  Some friends of mine have, but I still have a week to set up my classroom and attend district meetings.  I've spent some time over the summer planning for the new school year, but I mostly gave myself the summer off to recharge my batteries.

With school starting one short week away, I've got my head back in the game and I'm busy prepping and planning my heart out.  With that being said, I've been scouring TpT and making a HUGE wishlist of items that I think will be perfect for this year.

You can imagine how excited I was to hear that TpT is having a one day sale- TOMORROW!!

I'm going to use that sale to my advantage and get some of the things on my wishlist.  Hooray!!

Of course, I've set everything in my own store at 20% off as well so stop by and take a look.

My Animal Facts Comprehension Sheets are great for young readers.  They are filled with fun facts about different animals and they have two different comprehension sheets to go along with each non-fiction reading passage.  My high readers are really engaged and ask for them all the time.

You might also like my Just a Dot- Not a Lot Pack.  It's full of fun songs and chants to help with classroom management.  We sing the songs when we are lining up, walking down the hall, glueing projects, coming to the rug, etc.  I have the songs posted in different areas of my room so substitutes can sing them as well.  I find that helps the day run more smoothly when I'm gone.

Even though it's sale time, I have a ton of great free stuff as well.  Looking to get organized this school year?  Try these great binders labels.  Organize by month and planning is a breeze, just grab the binder for the month and everything is at your fingertips!

Leave a Comment Back to School, Common Core, Literacy Actvities

Building Letter/Sound Fluency

As you know by now, I'm teaching EAK- Early Admission Kindergarten to the kiddos in my district that turn 5 between December and March.  We are working very hard on learning our letters and sounds and believe it or not, a handful of my little ones are just beginning to decode simple CVC words!

Kindergarten is such an exciting grade.  I LOVE teaching kids how to read and write!

Here is a fun game that I play with my small groups to help everyone learn their letters and sounds.

You can play it multiple ways, depending on what skills your kids need.  Usually we do it looking for the names of the letters, but sometimes we will play it saying the letter's sound.  By mixing it up, it keeps it new and exciting- AND- versatile!

Just click here or on either of the photos to grab your FREE copy of this game.

There will be a big Teacher Appreciation Sale on TpT this week so stop by and grab the things on your wish list.  All of my items will be 20% off along with the TpT additional 10% discount.  Use the promo code: CELEBRATE to get all your discounts!

Thanks for stopping by!

Leave a Comment Back to School, Common Core, Fun Stuff, Literacy Actvities

Teacher Deals and Dollar Steals- Portrait Templates

I'm blogging over at Teacher Deals and Dollar $teals today to bring you one of my top selling products for mere dollar!  If you don't know Teacher Deals and Dollar $teals yet,  we are a group of K-5 teachers that offer daily discounts and freebies on some of our best selling products.  Make sure to follow the Teacher Deals and Dollar $teals blog and Facebook so you won't miss out on any great deals.

So here is my DOLLAR STEAL for this month.

I'm putting my Portrait Templates on sale for the next 3 days.  These can be used by the kids as a base for a self-portrait.  I use these during the first week of school to have the kids draw a self-portrait.  I use these self-portraits as the cover for their writing folders.  At the end of the year, I give the kids another portrait template and they draw themselves again.  The difference in how they draw themselves between the beginning of the year and the end of they year is amazing!

I don't just use these at the beginning and end of the year, I give these to the kids to illustrate characters in the stories that we are reading.  They also use them to draw their family members as gifts for Mothers and Fathers Day presents.  I give them one of these to draw themselves as a writer and I slide this into the cover of their writing binder.


There are so many different uses for these...

I would love to hear how you use these in your classroom!  

And here is my FREEBIE for you.  

Simply print the eggs on card stock, laminate and cut them out, then place them in a center with a real spatula and small skillet (I use the plastic skillet from my housekeeping center).  The kids love to scoop the eggs with the spatula, place them in the pan to cook, say the word when it is finished cooking, then scoop it out of the pan and onto a plate to serve.  

I slid the recording sheet into a page protector and placed a thin dry erase marker at the center.  Kids write the word on the egg that they just cooked.  Now they are getting practice reading AND writing the sight words.  My kids LOVE this activity!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Make sure to follow me on Bloglovin' or Google +.

Leave a Comment Art, Back to School, Teacher Deals and Dollar Steals

What Worked Well Wednesday- Center Tub Labels- FREEBIE!

I'm linking up with my friends over at Kinder Tribe for their "What Worked Well Wednesday" Linky Party.

Even though it is the middle of my summer break, I'm starting to think ahead to next year.  (Do we teachers ever really stop thinking about our classrooms??)

One of the things that worked really well last year was the addition of these simple labels to my math and literacy tubs.

Before I had these labels, the kids would try to work together on activities meant for one, or try to do a partner activity alone.  By adding the labels to the tubs, my kids gained independence and I gained some peace (and the ability to focus on my small group of kids).

I change the activities in the math and literacy tubs often based on what we are learning, or when I sense the kids are getting bored with the activity, or when I need to introduce a new skill or activity.  During my afternoon rotations, kids rotate through different activities.  One of their rotations is "Math and Literacy Tubs."  Although I direct WHEN the kids do the math and literacy tubs, the children can choose WHICH tub they would like to work on.  Some of my kids prefer to work alone, but some like to work with a partner or group.  By having these labels on the tubs, kids know immediately if it is an independent or partner or group activity.  This helps them get settled quickly and saves the wear and tear on my nerves.

You can grab these labels for FREE in my TpT store.  Just click on the pictures or on the link.

I hope you find these useful too!  They might be little, but they make a big impact.

5 comments Back to School, Classroom Management, Classroom Set Up, Organization

Back To School "What's In Your Cart?" Linky Party

It's time for the TpT Back to School Sale!!  I've been adding items to my wishlist all summer long and now is the time to make my final decisions.  Oh, how I love shopping!  I always hope that I will sell as much as I buy to keep the hubby happy.    Is it August 3rd yet??

I'm linking up with SPEECH ROOM NEWS for her "What's in Your Cart?" Linky Party.

So, if you are interested, here are some great products from my store to help you get your year off to a great start.

These Animal Facts Comprehension and Close Read Passages are super engaging for your readers.  Kids love learning about the different animals and the real pictures completely captivate and excite them.  The comprehension pages ask different questions.  I use these over the course of a few days.  First, I read it aloud for information.  We discuss.  Then I give the kids their own copy (I just print in gray scale and it looks fine) and we reread and highlight important facts.  Sometimes the kids do this in small groups, or with me, or independently.  Then we discuss what parts we thought were important.  Finally, I give them the comprehension questions and they use those to go back into the text and find information to answer the questions.

Another item that I think you'll absolutely adore are these games.  

In small groups we love to play "I have ___, who has___?"

These games are great for reading fluency, comprehension, and they cover so many different skills.  I have them for sight words, for CVC words, for word blends, for long vowels, for math concepts... you name it,  I've probably got it.  (If not, message me and I'll make you exactly what you want!)

Our speech teacher uses these games with her small groups as a reward and the kids are practicing speaking while they play- Win-Win!  Such a fun way to get some practice in during a real world speaking experiences.

And here's another great activity that I know you'll love!

Kids practice rhyming by rolling the dice.  They say the pictures out loud and if they rhyme then they cover a star on the board.  I use big dice in my room, but you can use the small dice that are included in the unit.  (I sometimes put those small dice in a center just to change it up).

And here are a couple of things that are in my shopping cart.

I LOVE A Teeny Tiny Teacher's Reader's Theater Partner Plays.  I use them with my reading groups, I use them as a center activity, my kids choose them during free choice time... I just can't get enough of these!  So I'm back to purchasing more.  These are great for working on reading fluency and reading with expression.  The kids love them!

Here is another item that my kids love.  I own this, 

so I need to purchase the CVCe activity.

Well, now I'm off to blog hop around the linky to see what everyone else has in their carts.  I always find such great products by doing this!

Happy shopping everyone!  And thanks for stopping by!

1 comment Back to School, Linky Party

Oh Snap! It's Almost August!

Can you believe that it's almost August?  Where has the summer gone?

If you are like me, you are starting to plan for the upcoming school year.  Join this fun link up and find some great resources for the upcoming school year.

The wonderful bloggers at 

are starting a monthly link up where we can all share our favorite resource for the upcoming month.  Isn't that perfect?!  It's just what I need to stay ahead of the curve and on my game.  

Since it is almost August, I'm thinking about the start of the new school year.  I contemplate what worked well last year and what things can be improved.  

Last year I really LOVED my calendar wall.  Why, you ask?  Well, I took my old standard calendar and updated it with more math stuff.  I began with the standard monthly calendar where we turn the cards over each day to reveal the number and the pattern.  We do Yesterday was ____, Today is ____, and Tomorrow will be ___, (those are the teddy bears).  I also have the daily add a straw count that groups ones, tens and hundreds.  I have the months of the year (train) and the days of the week.  The teddy bears in the trains are the kid's birthdays (they each decorated a die cut teddy bear and I put them in the train far for the month).  And of course we have the 100 chart and the weather.

Most of the items were purchased at teacher stores, but I got the weather from here and the day, month, year strips and the days in school from this website.

The number of the day and the shapes are part of my Calendar Companion.  I also have worksheets that my students use to learn about the different parts of the calendar.  

I also have a daily schedule cards that we review in the morning so the kids know what things we will be covering that day.  You can grab these for just $1 for the next 3 days!  I laminated these and put them on velcro.  I can rearrange them based on the day and the things that we will be doing. (The schedule cards are the pencil shaped cards that are hanging under the clock).

I encourage you to browse around the links to see what things you can add to your calendar wall.

Click here for a FREEBIE!  It's just one small part of my Calendar Companion.

Just slide it in a page protector and staple it to your calendar wall.  Use a dry erase marker to count the number of girls and boys at school each day.  I have my calendar helper do this each day.

Check my Freebies section for more fun FREE stuff.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  Hop on over to the next great blog and get more great STEALS AND DEALS for August.  Link up your own great product/tip for August.  Enjoy the rest of your summer!

An InLinkz Link-up

Leave a Comment Back to School, Bulletin Boards, Classroom Set Up, Common Core, Math, Teacher Deals and Dollar Steals

Teacher Deals and Dollar Steals- Get Organized

Hi everyone!

I'm joining the folks at Teacher Deals and Dollar Steals on the 10th of each month to provide you with a fun and amazing deal.  Be sure to follow both blogs!

This month I am sharing my absolute favorite system for organizing all my teaching units.  I have been teaching for over 20 years (I'm not going to say how many years over 20- I'll keep that my little secret) and I have tried many different organizational methods.  I've purchased big Rubbermaid tubs and stored all my things for the month in there.  That was great, but boy did it take up A LOT of storage space.  I ended up storing those tubs at home in my garage which meant that my car lost it's inside home. (Boo hoo)

I've tried to put things into filing cabinets.  Once again, this takes up a lot of space and it seems like stuff was constantly getting mis-filed or not filed at all.  I could never find what I was looking for until I found it weeks or months later in the wrong place.  My blackline masters were always getting torn and crinkled as well.  I currently have 3 filing cabinets full of stuff!

Last year, my coworker began putting her blacklines into 3 ring binders.  I waited to see how she liked it before getting my own binder system going.  Well, she LOVED it.  So mid way through the year I began to slowly organize my stuff by units into 1 inch binders.  I also purchased a few bigger binders for those huge subjects that needed more space.

As I finished or planned a unit, I would put my blacklines into page protectors and into the binder they went.  My blacklines stayed pristine and organized.  They were easy to find when I needed them and I no longer got them mixed up with my stuff when I was making copies.  I simply copied them and then they went right back into the page protector for safe keeping.  It was super easy to find what I was looking for, prep it, and then get the precious masters back into the binder.

I'm still in the process of getting rid of those 3 filing cabinets.  I'm going in to school one day a week during the summer and going through each drawer.  My goal is to have only one filing cabinet left at the end of the summer.  I will use that to hold the sample projects that don't fit into the page protectors.  I am so excited about the amount of classroom space I will be gaining!

So, if you are interested in getting organized using 3 ring binders, then head on over to Teacher Deals and Dollar Steals and get the monthly binders for free and the thematic binders for only $1.

Make sure to follow that blog because you'll get a daily Deal or Steal (or both) from fabulous TpT authors and bloggers.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Leave a Comment Back to School, Classroom Management, Classroom Set Up, Organization, Teacher Deals and Dollar Steals

Organizing Centers

I needed an easy way for my kids to grab a math or literacy tub and know right away if it is an independent activity or if they need to find a partner to work with, so I created these cute labels. 

Sometimes kids want to work alone and sometimes they feel like working with a friend, so all they need to do is pick a center that suits their preference.

I made two different sets.  One has cute apples and the other has adorable kid faces.  You choose the one that fits into your classroom decor.

All you need to do is print, laminate, and cut out. 

I like to velcro them to my tubs so that I can easily change them when I change the activity in the tub.

I also tape the labels to the bags that I store the center activity in so that I can quickly identify what bin to put the activity in when I'm changing out the centers.

These are FREE and in my TpT store.

Don't forget to leave me some feedback love if you like them.

Leave a Comment Back to School, Classroom Management, Organization

Lunch Count on the Door

Every morning on their way in the classroom, my kindergartners move their clip from the "I'm not here" section to either the "Bringing" or "Buying" lunch section.  This is a quick way for me to visually take roll and since it is located on my door, if we ever have a fire drill or a real emergency, then I can quickly scan the door as a reminder about who is absent for the day.

Here is how it works...

I got the jumbo ten frame magnets from Lakeshore Learning and put those on my door.  They come as a set of four so you'll only need to buy one.  They also have the magnetic circles that you can write your kid's names on if you don't want to get the IKEA magnets.

But I got the white circle magnets from IKEA and wrote the kids' names on those.  These come in sets of 4 and are nice because they have a raised area that makes it easy for my kids to grab and move.  I had planned to put their photos on the magnets, but then I thought that I would rather they be able to identify their name instead, so that's what I went with.  I just wrote their name with a permanent marker.

To complete the area, I put up a picture of a lunch bag for the bringers, a hot lunch tray for the buyers, and a sick child for the kids who didn't make it in to school.  I used a strip of magnetic tape to separate the areas.  You could use colorful duck tape or even masking tape, whatever works with your classroom decor.

When the morning bell rings, I greet the children and their parents at the classroom door.  It's nice to say good morning to everyone and to touch base with parents before the day starts.  My kindergartners move their magnet from the bottom area to the appropriate ten frame under the bringing or buying side.  Then they stow their backpacks, lunch boxes, etc and go sit on the rug.  I have music playing for them to sing along to until we are all situated and ready to begin our day.  You could easily have the kids do morning work at their desks as well, but I like to have everyone gathered on the rug so that we can do the calendar and other opening activities right away.

At the end of the day, I have a student move all the clips down to the home area and the door is ready to go for tomorrow.  Simple, fun and a great visual for organizing data.

Leave a Comment Back to School, Classroom Management, Math, Organization

Rhyming

I work on rhyming all year long.  I assess my kids on rhyming at the beginning of the year and then we work on it all year long.  Did I say that we work on it all year long?  Yes, great.  Kids need to be able correctly hear and identify rhymes, but also to generate them on their own.  By the end of the year most of my kiddos can do just that (and are rhyming experts- if you ask them).

We read lots of rhyming books and we play lots of rhyming games as a whole group.  As the kids gain competency as rhymers I will read a book and pause to let the kids fill in the rhyme.  This is challenging and fun and keeps everyone engaged.

To practice and gain skill as "expert rhymers" I make sure to have a rhyming center available for kids to choose during Literacy Center or Word Work time each week.  I vary the activities but the skill is always the same- rhyming.

This rhyming center pictured below is a favorite of the kids.  They roll the big dice and if they get a rhyme then they complete the recording sheet.  I like to use dry erase markers and teddy bear counters or some other place marker so that we save paper resources.  It's more important for the kids to practice rhyming, than for me to have a worksheet to send home to parents showing what we worked on.  I talk to my parents about that very thing at Back To School Night.  I explain that kindergarten is very hands-on and that they might not see a lot of paper-pencil worksheets come home at the end of each week.  Even though their little one isn't bringing home a lot of worksheets, we are still VERY busy in the classroom learning in developmentally appropriate ways.  As the year progresses, they will see more and more evidence of this learning on paper, but in the beginning of the school year especially, the task is more important than a worksheet.

I have this fun Rhyming Center in my TpT store.  

See below if you are interested in taking a closer look.

How do you approach teaching rhyming in your classroom?  Are your kids self-expressed "rhyming experts" at the end of the year?

Leave a Comment Back to School, Common Core, Literacy Centers