Have to love my teacher friends....

Hey everyone!! So yesterday I took a quick trip to Walmart with Ms. C . I really didn't have anything to buy because I am basically done and waiting to get into my classroom. So I kinda just went for moral support. haha. Somehow I got dragged into her idea and I am SO GLAD I did. She wanted to make chairs for her students for her Reading corner and I decided to make some too. It was actually super easy to make & we had a lot of fun!! I am so proud of the both of us and I hope our kiddies appreciate their fun little chairs. Best part is-- we can use them as storage too!!! And who doesn't need more storage!? I sure do!

Seriously, how adore?! I love them! Mine are the animal print (goes with my whole jungle theme) and hers are the fun colorful polka dots.

I'm sure all of us have seen those pom-pom balls that people make for parties, weddings, etc.. I know you can buy them pre-made but I think it's a little costly. So I decided to make some for my classroom. I think they will add a nice little pop of color. It only costed me $4 to make. I got tissue paper, ribbon and pipecleaners all from the dollar store! I put 10 sheets of tissue paper together and folded it like an accordian from the bottom up. I then used a pipe cleaner and tied it around the center of the folded tissue paper. Then I carefully started on one side and pulled each piece of tissue apart and then went to the other side. It was pretty easy and I did it all while watching Home Alone (absolutely LOVE that movie). Here's my finished product!

Okay, before I go. I HAVE got to let you guys know about this great giveaway going on over at Fancy Free in Fourth 's page! She is celebrating 300 followers and has linked up with lots of other fun bloggers who are all giving away awesome items! check it out!!!

Okay, I gotta get moving. I am going to a bbq with friends from work and I am so excited! Haven't seen them in what seems like forever! Have a wonderful day!!!!

85 days till HALLOWEEN!

Hey Everyone! So I know we are all in back to school mode but I have to admit I have been thinking about Halloween! All summer I have been wondering what myself and my 2 dearest teacher friends Ms. C and  Teri can dress up as. I'm a big fan of the superheroes or princesses idea. haha. We'll see what they think of those ideas, haha I'll keep ya posted! Anywho, I am "batty" about halloween and I hope that all of my new students will be "batty" about school. haha. Which led me to make a fun halloween craftivity!

This packet contains:

*2 different sized stencils to make bats

*directions for each stencil

*brainstorming worksheet for writing activity

*writing printables specifically or grades 1,2,3

* 2 printables for story writing.

If you like this unit, you can head on over to my TpT Store to purchase.

OMG!!almost forgot! I have been on a HUNT for a good sharpener for my classroom. I'm willing to spend a decent amount of $ if its worth it.  Pencil sharpening is the thorn in my side every year and I dont know what my munchkins do with their pencils, but they break every 2 seconds. Any opinions on good durable sharpeners. I've went thru a few and this past year I resorted to using a handheld sharper. Any advice would be MUCH APPRECIATED!! have a great day!



Such a lazy Sunday & my Giveaway Winner!!!

 Hey eveyone! Happy Sunday! So I did a little giveaway this week since I have been gone for so long. And I would like to announce a very lucky winner of the $15 Target giftcard!! Congrats to Lauren, check your inbox!!

So,  I don't know about all of you but lately I have found myself wasting LOTS of time on Pinterest. There are so many fun ideas and things on there. Today, I stumbled upon a really fun pin. It's called

Brain Sprinkles .. Check out the idea I think it is awesome! I actually made one of my own today, and I am so excited to give it a try in my classroom! I think my students will get such a giggle out of this and hey, we can all use a little brain sprinkle to get the wheels turning sometimes.

my brain sprinkle jar. =)

I know this is a short post, but there is a wicked storm brewing outside and the lights are flashing sooo I think I will be losing power shortly. :( Talk to you all soon!!!!!

FREEBIES!

Hey Everyone! So I made two quick little worksheets for my kiddies this year that I am going to be using. Like I have already told you guys, I am going to be doing a jungle theme. For the first day of school I am going to give them a  worksheet, so they can tell me what they are excited to learn! I like to know what they have in mind, so I can aim to please! :)
I also am going to use a "How am I doing today" chart. I am going to staple the chart into their folder and have them color it in at the end of the day depending upon what color they ended up on. My behavior chart is green, blue, red. But I know alot of us use green, yellow, red. So I made two How'd I do charts and you can download both for FREE!
Here's a little snipit of both. I hope they can be of use to some of you!

Click to download the Jungle Freebie for all my fellow jungle classrooms! Or you can click to download the How'd I do today chart 

Hope everyone is having a great day! I am so happy to be back in the bloggy world!!

Don't forget about my giveaway in my previous post! We can all use $15 to Target!!! :)

I'm Back!!! New Ideas and a GIVEAWAY

Hello Bloggy Friends!!! I am BACK! I must apologize for being gone for so long! I had two eye surgeries at the end of May and beginning of June. And its been alot of recovering and it's taken my eyes quite some time to readjust and focus on the computer again! I also apologize for any spelling mistakes! My eyes still get a little fuzzy if I sit here too long! Good news is I'm back with some great new ideas and stories oh, and finally, great vision!!!

Well, Happy end of summer and Back to school time for some of you! I am counting down the days until it's back to school and I CANNOT wait. I have already started on some new ideas for my classroom. I've decided that I am going to do a jungle theme and I cannot wait to decorate my room! I of course went out and bought some jungle things but I decided that I wanted to have a jungle tree in my room, and this is what i came up with.

it was fun to make, but such a pain to cut out after I laminated it! lol

I also decided to make a noise-o-meter. I've seen these all over the place that you can buy, but I think they are pretty expensive. I am going to use a clothespin to let the class know how they should be working.



NOW time for my GIVEAWAY!!! I feel awful that I have been MIA for awhile, I feel as if my bloggy friends deserve a little something! I am going to be giving away a $15.00 giftcard to TARGET. I have been to TARGET entirely too much this summer, but they have so many fun things for school and it's pretty cheap too! So here are the rules for the GIVEAWAY.

1. Make sure you follow my blog!

2. Leave me a comment.

3. Follow me at my TpT Store

I will pick the winner this SUNDAY, AUGUST 5, 2012 @ 8 pm EST.

Thanks again guys! Talk to you all soon!!!

xoxo



Just because...

Hellooo!! Happy Wednesday! I don't know about all of you, but it feels like this week is taking FOREVER!!! We are testing in the first grade this week and it has got me going crazy! Counting down to the long, much needed, weekend.

I wanted to hop on here to show you all how my kiddies did with the Memorial Day Freebie I had posted on here over the weekend. I only took a few, quick pictures. Now, I am really mailing their letters to a Marine base and the kids are so about it. They were really sweet with what they wrote and really took the time to think about what they wanted to say. I let them draw and decorate the letters. I hope it brightens a soldier's face even for a split second.

thank you for fighting for our country <3

thank you for giving us freedom. <3

sorry the picture isnt the best, but you get the idea ;)

Talk to  you all soon!!!!

Memorial Day Freebie & Ray of Sunshine Craftivity!

Hello Everyone! HAPPY SUNDAY! It's a gorgeous day over here in Jersey, hope it's the same wherever you are!
Memorial Day is quickly approaching and I sometimes find it hard to explain to my little ones all about it, without getting in to too much detail. I tell them it's a time to remember all the soliders who didn't get a chance to come home and a time to thank all the soldiers who protect us. I came up with a little writing activity that I will be doing with my kiddies TOMORROW! I have 2 very dear friends who are in the Marines and once my kiddies are finished, I will be mailing their letters to them. I hope that this project brightens a solider's day! These are the two worksheets I created. Some of of my kiddies need sentence starters and some can just begin writing.

Guess what!?! If you click HERE , you can download both worksheets for FREE!!

Now, for a fun Crafitivity! Of course there are those days when our kiddies drive us crazy, but on most days, they are little rays of sunshine. I created a craftivity that can be used in 2 different ways. A while back I did an Adjective lesson in which my kiddies found 6 adjectives that described them. They wrote their name on the sun and 1 adjective on each sun ray. I also used an anchor chart to brainstorm adjectives.

You can also do a fun summer writing activity with this packet. I had my students write 6 different things they were going to do this summer. We first used an anchor chart and listed 6 things we were doing this summer. Then they wrote 1 sentence on each ray. In the middle of the sun they wrote, "This summer I am going to..."

They had a lot of fun with both activities and it definitely *brightened* up the classroom!

Adjective Sun

"This Summer I am going to.."

Anchor charts I used

If you like what you see, please head on over to my Tpt Store and download my Ray of Sunshine Craftivity!

Packet includes-

[sun and ray stencils]

[directions for both uses]

[adjective anchor chart]

[This summer I am going to.. anchor chart]

Let me know what you all think, I love reading the comments. Have a WONDERFUL DAY!