Counting Blessings -- Celebrating with a Flash Freebie Tonight

(This started as a FB post, but I realized it was probably going to be too long.)

Just sitting at my computer watching the snow come down again, and thinking about  how blessed I am.  My son, my Marine, just received his promotion.  Yes,  you can now call him PFC Boatright.  And in exactly one week, he will be coming home for a 30-day recruiters assistant job while he waits for his schooling to start.  Very proud of him.

And yesterday, my daughter, who marches in a local marching group called Marvellete Stars, received the honor of becoming the "Up and Coming Sophomore Princess," complete with roses, a sash, and a real diamond tiara!   Okay, maybe not real, but still, it sparkles and shines.  Now, what 9.5-year-old girl wouldn't be thrilled with that?

I feel like celebrating!  I am currently working on a geography resource that I think is dynamite.  I am thisclose to being done with it, and I should finish it shortly.  

When it is finished, I will put it on flash freebie, so watch my FB page  (Hint - if I run a flash freebie, it is usually around 8-ish on Sunday evenings) tonight, December 8, for a flash freebie, followed by (in case you miss the freebie) the product being 50% off until tomorrow evening.

Have a fabulous Sunday, everyone!

Count Down to Thanksgiving Break

I don't know about you all, but I am so ready for an extended break.  I'm just plain old tired.  We've only had one day off since school started, Veteran's Day.  We've had half days followed by faculty meetings and teacher clerical days as well.  I don't know how some schools get fall breaks and a week off at Thanksgiving and still manage to get out of school before we do?  Maybe they started earlier.

But before I can luxuriate in some time off -- well, if you don't count planning and searching out resources and checking papers and entering grades, all of which I will be doing -- we still have 2 1/2 days this week.  I know from past experience that the kids will be antsy and hard to keep focused, so I've saved some of my best November lessons for these few days.

In math, we just started formally learning about addition strategies.  On Monday, I will introduce the add in any order and count on from the bigger number strategies.  Now, technically, my kids do know about this because we've talked about turn-around facts.  I've pointed out the facts to them when we've come across them.  I've helped them think through problems with oral prompts -- you know what 4+1 equals right? So what's 1+4?  But we've never actually used manipulatives and shown how it works.

After introducing and practicing the strategies, on Tuesday the children will get the chance to practice applying the strategies while using the SMARTBoard Game I created called Turkey Toss. It is a fun game, similar to Bump, but I have added differentiation to the game by adding a few twists.  In the two-dice version, the children can add or subtract to find an open number.  The three-dice version, shown below, is played the traditional way.  I'll divide the class into two teams, and we'll use the SMARTBoard to play the game as a group.

As the children are playing, I am encouraging them to add in any order and add from the bigger number.  If they roll a 3 and a 6, I'll use think-alouds to help them by saying, "If it were me, I'd start with the 6 and count on 3.  It's a great and fun game to have the children practice addition, subtraction, strategy, and mental math.

On Wednesday, I will have the children work in groups of 2 or 3 with a game board of their own, and play the same game again.  This time, I'm circulating, watching, assessing, and seeing who is applying the strategies to solve the problems already, and who may need to have the concepts reinforced.

I've also created two worksheet to go along with the game that I will give the children as homework on Monday and  Tuesday evening.

You can find this bundled set in my TPT store.  It is bundled as zip file that includes the game in a PDF version and the Notebook file for the SMARTBoard.  Click on the picture below to see this resource in my store.

I also have a freebie for you!  If you click on the picture below, you can download this addition and subtraction practice sheet from the game.  It's one of the sheets I use for homework.  

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  I hope you have a wonderful break with many things to be thankful for. 

Making Sentences and a Thanksgiving Linky!

Hey, everyone!  Happy Saturday!  With only a week and half before Thanksgiving, I wanted to share my fun Thanksgiving-themed freebie with you.  It makes a great center, small group activity, or even a lesson on subject and predicates.

Some of my firsties are still struggling with the concept of what makes a complete sentence.  Our reading series introduces the concept of subject and predicate by calling it the naming part and the action part.  When I use these cards with my class, I start by showing them just one piece of the sentence. 

 We identify it as either the naming or the action part, and talk about what part is missing to make the sentence complete.  We then make up oral sentences that would complete the sentence. We repeat the process with other parts of the sentence.

After doing it orally about 4 times, I put the children into groups of 2 or 3, give them wipe off boards, and a part of a sentence.  They work together to come up with the missing part of the sentence to make a complete sentence.  When they share, they say whether they had a naming part or an action part, and then read their complete sentence to the class. 

Finally, after practicing with the whole class, I put the cut apart puzzle pieces into a center, and they can use it during center time to practice matching naming and action parts of sentences to make complete sentences. each puzzle has a unique cut for self checking.

Click on the expanded pin above to download your free Subject/Predicate teaching resource.  While you're there, be sure to visit my {Thanksgiving}section for additional resources to help you through these last weeks before Thanksgiving break.

And check out my newest resource that I adapted for use in a first grade classroom in conjunction with my sweet friend, Wendy, from Teacher's Toolkit.  It's a quick and clever way to track your students' progress as they journey through the common core standards.  I have the ELA standards, and Wendy has the math standards in her store.

You can track your children's progress several different ways using this resource.  

You can track for complete mastery, partial and complete mastery, or basic, proficient, and advanced mastery.  All of this is explained in the directions on the resource.  Click the cover below if you would like to learn more about Delicious Data Tracking.  

     

You can find the link to the Wendy's Math Delicious Data Tracking in the product description on my page, or you can click {here} to visit her store.

Looking for more Thanksgiving ideas?  Click on the button below to visit Tales from Outside the Classroom and see what others are sharing!

I'm also linking up this post to another Thanksgiving freebie hosted by Life Over C's.  Head on over there for even more Thanksgiving-themed freebies!

Facebook Frenzy!

Just a quick post tonight to remind you that there is a Facebook Frenzy going on this weekend.

If you click on the picture above, it will take you to my Facebook page, where you can start the Frenzy for K products.

If you click the above picture, it will take you to Facebook Frenzy maps for K-5.  If you encounter a broken link just go back to the map and click the next picture!  Genius!

Have fun hopping.  My  November resources folder is bulging with new activities!

I Need a Day Off!!

Hi Friends!

Well, we made it through Halloween week last week.  High fives to all of us.  Our craziness started on Monday when we had to decorate our pumpkin for the pumpkin decorating contest.

My kids decided they wanted to make a pirate, and our local baseball team just came off their best season in 20+ years, so we decided to make him a Pittsburgh Pirate.  He came out rather cute.  Unfortunately, we did not "win" the contest, but the school did raise over $600.00 to buy pies to donate to the food bank for Thanksgiving, so I guess we're all winners!  At least that is the pep talk I gave my dejected kiddos.

Plus, when we perform service for others, we don't expect a reward.  Did Jesus get a reward for everything he did for others?  I think about that time, they went into Charlie Brown mode.  You know, all they heard me saying was wah-wah-wah-wah----wah, wah.

Do you young teachers even get that reference?  My teaching partner is 25.  She doesn't always get my dated jokes.  But I do think Charlie Brown is timeless, so we should be okay.  If you don't get it, Google it and watch a YouTube clip.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand -- here's a group shot of half my class posing with their creation.  Look how happy they are.  That's because they just had "the best day ever!"  It might be because they managed to stretch a 10 minute project into 90 minutes.  I think they are secretly high-fiving each other behind their backs.

Ha, ha, seems like a waste to post a group photo when all their faces are blanked out, but I went through the work so I'm posting it!

Things calmed down for a few days after that, then Thursday hit.  Halloween party - bam!  Pep rally assembly - bam!  Trick-or-treating Thursday night - bam!  Friday was more or less a lost cause.  The first 80 minutes were awesome because we were at mass, but it was all downhill from there.  I was never so glad to see a week end.

And this week -- well, this week we are good up until Thursday.  Thursday, I will teach all day, then we will have parent/teacher conferences from 5:00-8:00.

Which really means from 5:00 until 9:00 or so.

Then we get to come back to school the next day, teach for a three-quarter day, and go home early?

Ha, ha, ha, ha.  Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha.  Good one.

No, we get to have more conferences from 12:30 until 3:00.

Now, Thursday evening, I am booked solid with maybe 10 minutes to run to the bathroom around 7:00, unless someone pops in and says, "I didn't schedule a conference, but since you're free right now. . ."

Friday afternoon, I have long periods of open time, with just a few conferences intermittently in between.

And Monday, we finally have a day off.  I will need a break after the parent conference marathon on Thursday and Friday.

So on Friday, I will use my new Veteran's Day resource with my kiddos.

  There's a lot to do in this package, and it should take pretty much all morning.  

Since I've made this preview, I've added a few more components to the resource.  I've added a wreath craft and form to send home for families to fill out and send in with a photo of their Veteran for a hall display.

I've also added three little foldable books to use as a follow-up in small groups.  The books use the same pictures but the text gets increasingly more complex.  There is also a follow-up ABC activity to do that can be used with guidance or independently, depending on your children's abilities.

If you're interested in purchasing this resource, click on the picture of the cover and visit my store!   50% of the proceeds will be donated to the Fisher House Foundation, which builds "homes away from home" near military hospitals for family members to stay at for free while their loved ones in the military undergo surgery and/or recover from injuries.

I have second-hand experience with this organization.  A family I know from when my son was in boot camp got the call all parents dread.  Their son had been hurt during knife drills.  He sliced his thumb down to the bone and would need surgery.  The father jumped in the car and started driving, not thinking twice about where he would be staying.  He figured he would work it out on his 10 hour drive to be with his son at Camp Lejeune.

In the meantime, when the hospital personnel learned he was on his way, they contacted the local Fisher House and made arrangements for his stay.  He said it was such a relief to know he would have a place to stay.  And what a place it is!  Here are some pictures he posted.

After his son was operated on, he came back to Fisher House to be with his dad while he began his recovery.  All of this at no charge to the family.  Now, that's a cause worth supporting.  By the way, the surgery was successful, although he may not regain 100% mobility in his thumb.  

Next, some really exciting news! I'm going to be taking part in a very special event that will run from this Friday through Monday!  You won't want to miss this!

And finally, be sure to check out Teacher's Toolkit Facebook freebie.  It's really cute!  It would be fun to put at a center or in a finished work early box.  Just click on the picture below to visit her page.

If you haven't visit Primary Paradise to get her top five downloads, you can click on the picture below to get there.

Have a great week!

Happy Halloween This-n-That, A Flash Sale, and a Freebie at the End!

Hi friends!  Just a quick Halloween eve post in case you are not a Facebook follower.

I can't believe it's Halloween time already. Then the time falls back on Saturday, and we will be in darkness by 5:15 or so. Flannel jammy weather is upon us.

We were stuffing my daughter's treat bags this evening, and it was sort of sad because I realized this is the last time we will do that. Next year, she will be at the intermediate school, and they do not party. She's growing up fast!

At my school, my firsties get to have a small party. Moms will come in and help run the party with a snack, a craft, and a game. We don't have much time, just around 55 minutes. But the kids really look forward to it.

I found the cutest craft on pinterest that they will do tomorrow. My type of craft -- quick, easy, and not too expensive!

Does your class celebrate Halloween? 

And finally, as a special treat, I am throwing a one-day sale tomorrow at my store. EVERYTHING will be 20% off.

Here's a little treat for you, a little freebie for you to put away for next year.  It's a monthly word bank poster you can assemble and display along with your word wall for seasonal writing words.  Click on either picture to download.

Happy Halloween!

13 Weeks is Really Not That Long and a Facebook Hop Freebie

What seemed like it was so far away has come upon us so suddenly.  Tomorrow my son will leave for Marine bootcamp.  He'll be gone for 13 weeks, which really isn't all that long, especially in the summer!  We all know how fast summer goes, right?  To keep myself busy, I created a new packet I will use to keep in touch with him while he's gone.  I also think it will be a wonderful resource for teachers to use during holidays when they want to initiate a correspondance with military personnel.

During Sean's party, I put out multiple copies of the notecards shown above and asked guests to write a note for me to send out at some point during his stay at bootcamp.  Reading through the notes the next day, I literally laughed out loud at so many of them.  His 9-year-old sister wrote, "See you.  I'm proud of you, Sean.  I (heart) you.  Love, Colleen."  Sweet, huh?  Then his best friend, Andrew, wrote on the other side, "Colleen has sloppy handwriting."  Ha, ha.  Some people wrote inspirational advice.  Some wrote jokes.  Some wrote nonsense, especially his friends.  But I think they will all really help keep his spirits up.

Earlier this week, I got a brand spanking new laminator.  It was like Christmas for me! 

It is a Fellowes Saturn 2125 laminator from MyBinding at www.MyBinding.Com.  This came with a starter pack of laminating pouches.  It is much nicer than the last laminator I had that I bought at KMart years ago, which I broke on the last day of school this year, so the Saturn 2125 came at just the perfect time.  The first I thing I used it for was to laminate a portion of "Until You Come Home" packet.

I laminatead the poster above to count down the weeks until Sean comes home.  Since I made this one, I've had to make two more, one for his best friend and one for his girlfriend!

I also laminted all these signs for his See Ya Later party we had Friday night. 

So you can see, laminators are great for home and school use.  I know I will continue to use my laminator for many, many more school items throughout the summer, and I can't wait to share them with you.  If you don't already have a personal lamintor, I  highly recommend this one.  It has a cool laminting setting as well as three different heat settings.  It's very simple and intuitive to use.  An especially nice feature of the laminator is the jam release handle.  I haven't had to use it yet, but I know on my old laminator, it was very difficult to clear jams, and ultimately, that was what caused it to break. 

During all this, my more-than-bloggy friends put together a fabulous Facebook hop.  I had every intention of participating but just couldn't get my head around installing the app needed at this time.  I had a (I think) wonderful product that is a paid item in my store all set to give to you for free, so I decided to put it up for you here. 

Click here to download your free resource.



Finally, be sure to visit the Facebook blog hop.  You will wind up with 10 fabulous freebies if you visit and like each page.  You can start your hop here, at Pirate Girl's Facebook page.  Click on the aqua tab to get to her freebie.  From there, you will be able to hop to 9 other pages.  What fun!

Until we talk again, have a great week everyone!

The Saturday Roundup!

There are so many awesome freebies that are offered on Saturday that you may not be aware of,  so I have decided to do a Saturday roundup for you all.

Before I get to that, though, let me tell you about my new resource that I am super-excited about!  This time of the year, as you well know, the kids start getting spring fever, and frankly, so do I.  I have always found my spring centers to be, well, not as inspiring or as exciting as my fall and winter centers.  When I pulled out my old, ragged, broken-down spring box this year to clean it out, I wound up throwing 99% of it away.   It left me with one nice art center activity, making a spring tree.  Hmm, not good.   So I have finally been working on making some fresh, new centers for spring.  The first one I have completed is my Mixed Operation Addition and Subtraction:  The Gnome Knows.

 

Perfect spring center -- gnome, toadstool, rain. Yep, it must be spring!

I found this clipart from Ninja Girl that I fell in love with, and I knew, after checking some papers the children have done, that some of my kids need to practice LOOKING AT THE SIGN FIRST BEFORE SOLVING A PROBLEM -- you know how you can tell when they didn't look at the sign first -- and the whole center came together in two days.  Love when that happens!

Here's a few photos of the finished center.  I purposely made the + or - sign in a smaller font and red so the children would have to look at the sign closely in order to solve the problem.  I also only used sums/differences from 7 to 18 because at this point, most of the children have memorized sums/differences less than 5.  I guess I could have included 6, but I don't like having an odd number of things.  It upsets the balance.  Yeah, I'm weird like that.

The complete center set up on my side chalkboard. I used the front cover as a center header. Brilliant and it only took me 26 years to come up with that idea!

A closer view of one of the toadstools and gnomes.

And another toadstool and gnomes...

Obviously, the objective is to correctly add or subtract and get the gnome out of the rain by placing him under the correct toadstool.

To kick off my Saturday roundup, I have the worksheet I included in this packet as a freebie for you.  Of course, I hope you purchase the center to go with the worksheet, but it can stand on its own as an assessment or practice sheet.  Enjoy!

 Click here to download this freebie

Now,  for the rest of the Saturday roundup!  First up is Primary Paradise!  After taking Easter weekend off,  she's back with her Top Five Freebies of the week!  Visit Martha's blog to see what she has this week.

 

Click here to visit Primary Paradise and see her top five freebies of the week.

After that, you will want to visit An Educator's Life for Created by Mr. Hughes' Share the Wealth linky party.

And finally, while not  technically a freebie, there is a huge blog linky party going on with The Reading Olympians.  There is also a rafflecopter giveaway with it.  You might want to check that out.

Click here to learn about the Pass the Torch linky giveaway.

And one last site I just found.  It is especially appropriate in the month of April!

Find this freebie and others at Daily Autism Freebies! Click the picture to visit and explore the blog

It's so quiet at my house right now.  My hubby is away for the weekend.  My baby girl is away at Girl Scout camp for the weekend, and my son, after running in the Race for Grace (local fundraiser for Cancer Research) has headed down to the Gathering of Catholic Men.  So it's just me and the snoring dog and the two cats at the moment.  Ahhh.  I love my family, but a day of silence is not something that I get too often.  So I'm off to take a bath and do some creating.  I still need to make a literacy spring center for my classroom!    Enjoy your day!