Best. Year. Yet. Blog Hop

So here we are looking 2014 right in the eye. Have you decided on a New Year's Resolution yet? Is it to get in better shape? To de-stress your life? To amp up your teaching game? Well, whatever it is, we're here to help you...although we all think you're perfect just the way you are!
I have teamed up with several fabulous teacher bloggers to bring you The Best Year Yet Blog Hope and Giveaway.

From New Year's Eve until January 2, you can hop around our blogs and grab a FREEBIE from each of us. Be sure to enter the Rafflecopter at The Teaching Tribune for your chance to win one of these fabulous prizes.

Today I am offering the product below as my freebie. Simply click on the picture to take you to my store to download it.

Fun activities to complete in January - perfect for the first few days back.

                                        

While you're at my store you may also want to check out these products, just perfect for those first few weeks back at school.

Have a New Year's Party in your classroom!

Learning about the continents and oceans with a variety of activities.

Like Interactive Notebooks for Science?  Check out My Amazing Skeleton with 7 interactive activities to include in a notebook or do as stand alone actives

Highlight below these words for a super-secret message that you will only get if you read this far!

{Psst - a little bird told me the QR Geography and Amazing Skeleton will be on sale for 50% off today and tomorrow!

Be sure to continue the circle on the blog hop by clicking the button below.

We truly hope that 2014 is your best year yet and that it brings you good health, happiness and many other good things.  Happy New Year!

Days 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 -- Whew, Who Knew This Would Be So Hard?

Wow, who knew blogging every day for 12 days straight would be such a challenge?  I thought "Piece of cake.  I can do this.  Whip out a little post.  Add a picture or two.  Easy."  But after a while, all the posts started sounding the same, and I got bored with it myself, so I could only imagine what you all were thinking. Something along the lines of, "Yeah, not reading that post."

So, in the interest of my sanity (as I STILL have shopping and wrapping to do) and your interest level, I'm calling Uncle on my daily posts (as my blogging buddy, Chalk One Up for the Teacher did a few days ago) and posting my last five 50% off items now.  They will stay up until the sometime after Christmas.  I would love to say until X time on X date, but I just don't work that way.  When I get to it, sometime after Christmas, they will go back to full price.

My day 8 item, which I never blogged about, is my Spanish bundle.

Great deal @ 50% off = $3.25

Next up is my day 9 item is January Roll and Cover Games with Mike the Moose.  

50% = $1.50

Mike the Moose really has nothing to do with these games, other than being the clipart I used.  I just liked the way "Mike the Moose" sounded. What's the plus, you might be asking?  Well, these games are differentiated for addition and subtraction to 10 and to 18, and also for 10 more and 10 less.  But that's not the plus.  The plus is that after the items have been rolled and colored, the kids have to write a number sentence to match the number on the item!  Brilliant, right?  Click on the picture below and you can download a free sample of the game to see what I mean.

Look at that face.  I had to work Mike the Moose into the title.

Okay, day 10 item is next.

@50% off = $2.35

This resource includes a lesson plan for introducing transitional words and graphic organizers for pre-writing.  It also includes the personal word wall booklet "How Do I Spell?" for students to keep at their desk for easy reference.  After introducing and practicing using transitional words in whole group writing, there are paragraph puzzles for the children to unscramble and glue down in sequential order to create a paragraph.

Day 11!

I know we're not even done with Advent yet, but you know how quickly the next church season sneaks up on us!  Before you know it, Mardi Gras and then the beginning of Lent will be here.  

Use this to help your children understand that Lent is more than "giving up candy."  Why do we make sacrifices during Lent?  Is these anything else we can do during Lent to get closer to Jesus?  Use this resource to explore the answers to these questions.

And finally Day 12!

Free!  If you stuck with this post this long, you deserve a reward!

You can find any of these items by clicking on the cover of the item.

Wishing you and your families the love, joy, peace, and happiness of this holiday season.  Let go of the stress and focus on the miracles!

Day 7?

Tonight I am very, very tired.  This week has been the. longest. week. EVER!  But we made it through, and tomorrow is an 11:15 early dismissal day.  Two "work" periods, a Christmas party, a pat on the head, a Merry Christmas, a see you next year (amid giggles), and out the door they go.  Phew.

Today is day 7 of the 12 Days of Christmas for teachers.

Today, I am offering you this little gem

It includes a lesson plan for teaching how to write a paragraph, including graphic organizers and these mixed up paragraph puzzles.  

There's a bonus personal word wall component.

This resource normally sells for $3.75, but at 50% off, you can get it for $1.85.

I hope your last day is tomorrow, and that it goes fast and smoothly for you.

One Last Holiday Freebie

I know, I know, you've been holiday freebied (I invented a new word!) to death between frenzies and hops and giveaways.  If you're like me, you've got a folder full of more holiday freebies than you can use in the 3 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

But you're really going to want this freebie.  Maybe.  Or not.  But I'll offer it anyway.  See, we had to do our 2nd writing assessment this month, the persuasive writing sample.  And I always do "Convince Santa You've been Good This Year and Deserve a Present Instead of Coal."

But as I scrolled through the dozens upon dozens of writing papers, I couldn't find one I really liked. I found pretty good, not quite, and close, but not just right.  I wanted a space at the top for drawing.  I wanted primary printing lines.  I wanted a cute border and graphic.  So I did what any TPT teacher would do and made my own.  And thanks to {Graphics from the Pond} and {Whimsy Workshop}, I think it came out really cute.  So cute that I wanted to share it with you.

Click here to download your freebie.

Enjoy!!!

All That Glitters...

Can I just say I really, really dislike working with glitter?  I pull it out once a year to use with the kids, and today was the day.  The Christmas cinnamon ornaments we made last week were finally dry, after 5 days of flipping them over, and today was the day to break out the glitter.

When I first started teaching, glitter was these huge chunks of whatever it is that glitter is made of -- messy, but at least able to be cleaned up.  Today's glitter is a whole different story.  It reminds me of sugary sand.  It gets everywhere and is so hard to clean up.  There was glitter in the bottom of the tub tonight after my shower.  I think there might still be glitter in my hair.

As much as I loathe glitter, that's how much the kids love it.  "Oh," they say, with eyes the size of saucers, shining brightly, "Are we using glitter today?  Can we use any color we want?  Can we use ALL the colors at once?"  Seriously, they did ask me that.

"Knock yourselves out, kids."  I tell them. "This is the one day a year we use glitter in 208, so go crazy."

And they do.

Even I have to admit that the glitter on the cinnamon ornaments adds a certain Je ne sais quoi.  They sparkle and shine in the Christmas lights. It almost matches the Christmas sparkle and shine in the kids' eyes when they see their glittered ornaments.  And that is why, despite my intense dislike of glitter, I still pull it out once a year.

(I took some really cute photos to use with this post, but since I upload to Facebook then download to computer and upload to blog, and Facebook is being wonky tonight and won't upload my photos, you will have to visualize along with the above post.)

And  yes, tomorrow is the Fifth Day of the Teacher's 12 Days of Christmas 50% off sale.

I will be offering my #1 top selling product (since it is a full moon)

This resource, normally $3.00, will be $1.50 until midnight tomorrow night.

It contains an informational text booklet telling about moon phases and the moon phases clock interactive craft in a zipped file.

Have a great day, everyone, and try to keep the glitter to a minimum.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas. . .

Aren't you just loving these original titles?  Well, Hi Everyone! Welcome back to the 12 Days of Christmas where you can grab one of my best selling products for 50% off for one day only!

Today is the 4th day of Christmas! 

I'm very excited about the next product I'm offering you because I just love playing these math games with my kiddos on the SMARTBoard.  It's a great way to observe how they are applying the addition strategies that we've been working on to solve addition problems.

So today I'm offering you 

This is a zipped file that contains the SMARTBoard version of the gameboards created using Notebook software and the PDF version of the game, as well as follow up worksheets to use as homework, in class, or as quizzes.

As I said, my kiddos just love playing these games.  We always use the SMARTBoard version of the game first so the kids can see how to play the game and learn the rules.  We talk about addition strategies they use to solve the problems.  Once I know they have learned how to play the game, we move into playing it with partners, and the last step is to use it at a math center.

While the children are playing with partners, I observe, noting who is successfully using the strategies and who still needs help.

The gameboards offer three different levels of play.  The first level uses two dice.  The second level uses three dice.  The last level is adding and converting the number into tens and ones to cover the spot on the board.

This is another great way to ease your kids back into the new year with some fun learning!  Click on the long pin above to get your resource for 50% off!

Have a great day!

On the Third Day of Christmas. . .

Hi Everyone! Welcome back to the 12 Days of Christmas where you can grab one of my best selling products for 50% off for one day only!

Today is the 3rd day of Christmas! 

Today, I am offering you 

This resource makes a great one-day mini-unit to focus on Martin Luther King, Jr.  Use it along with any stories and activities you already do about MLK.  It includes an 8 page story that tells about Martin Luther King and his dream.  It asks the children to think about their dreams for the future and compare them to MLK's dreams.

The resource covers social studies, ELA, and math.

And there's even a craft activity included!  It makes a great bulletin board display when paired with the children's writings.

So click the picture above to grab today's 50% off item, and make sure to stop back tomorrow to see what's 50% off for the 4th day of Christmas!

A bunch of my TPT friends are participating as well, so click on the links below to see what they have on sale today! The link will take you to their TPT store. Click on the words to the right of their logo to check out what product they have on sale!

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Have a marvelous Monday!

Day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas!

Hi Everyone! Welcome back to the 12 Days of Christmas where you can grab one of my best selling products for 50% off for one day only!

                                  

Today is the 2nd day of Christmas!

Today I’m offering…

 It's normally $2.50 but grab it today for only $1.25

I use this on the first day back to school after Christmas break.  It's a fun way to welcome everyone back and ease back into the school routine.  It includes language arts  resources. . .

reading

writing 

(these pictures were taken last year; the packet is updated to reflect 2014)

(My resolution still hasn't changed.)

math - moving from the easier concept. . .

 to the harder concept

This year, I am going to look for those elastic thingies that party hats have instead of the yarn.  And I think I will buy noisemakers as well.  We are going to party likes it's 2014! 

So click the picture above to grab today's 50% off item, and make sure to stop back tomorrow to see what's 50% off for the 3rd day of Christmas!

A bunch of my TPT friends are participating as well, so click on the links below to see what they have on sale today! The link will take you to their TPT store. Click on the words to the right of their logo to check out what product they have on sale!

Have a great Sunday!

#love4SH

As educators, we remember and honor our fallen colleagues and their students from Sandy Hook School. We honor them each day in our classrooms in which we continue their dream of teaching our children.  WE honor their memory with our service.  Join with teachers everywhere in committing random acts of kindness to show our love for Sandy Hook.  #love4SH.

Hi Everyone!
Did you know that exactly 12 days from today is Christmas day? Well, I decided to offer you all a gift... actually 12! I'm excited to announce that I am celebrating the Teacher's 12 Days of Christmas!

 Here's how it works. Every day from now until Christmas Day, I'm going to be offering one of my best selling products for 50% off for one day only. These products are all resources that will be useful after the New Year. (I think that is important!) Oh, and did I mention that each day the product will get bigger and bigger? So as Christmas gets closer, you'll be able to grab my biggest resource for 50% off!

Today is the first day of Christmas.



I'm offering my...

(Okay, I said I would offer things for after the New Year, but I promise this is the only before Christmas item I'll offer.  I just think it is perfect for the last week of school when things are getting a bit crazy.  My kiddos LOVE playing Elf Toss and beg to play it every day. PLUS, this zipped file includes both a PDF version and a SMARTBoard version of the game made on Notebook software.)

It's normally $3.25, but grab it today for only $1.62.  Oh, what the heck.  I'm feeling generous, so we'll make it a straight $1.60.

So click the picture above to grab today's 50% off item, and make sure to stop back tomorrow to see what's 50% off for the 2nd day of Christmas!


*Please note that in remembrance for Sandy Hook Elementary, there will be no 12 Days of Christmas post tomorrow. I will pick back up on Sunday.*

A bunch of my TPT friends are participating as well, so click on the links below to see what they have on sale today! The link will take you to their TPT store. Click on the words to the right of their logo to check out what product they have on sale!