a very sweet giveaway!

My Freebielicious friends and I are so excited to announce that we are teaming up with A+ Teacher Images (the greatest t-shirt company for teachers and more, in case you haven't heard of them!). We all received the fanciest custom designed t-shirt we've ever owned AND now we can give a 

t-shirt of the winner's choice from each of our individual blogs.

I love my t-shirt because it is so much more than just a shirt.  It represents friendships, fun, and business relations (oh wait and STYLE, of course!) all in one "blinging" design.  Where else could you get all that from one t-shirt?  A special thanks goes out to Doug from A+ Images.  He worked with us to make just the right shirt to represent our company and is still giving us a shirt to give one lucky winner for each of our blogs!

We have made this giveaway super easy for you to have almost 50 chances to win one of 23 t-shirts.  It is a blog hop, so you can enter as many or as few giveaways you would like!  The contest begins Saturday, May 18th, at 8:00 a.m. EST and ends on Sunday, May 19th, at 12:00 a.m. EST.  Winners will be announced on the following Monday.  Easy peasy, lemon-squeezy!  Start by entering my giveaway here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Next, you will head over to my friend Maria's blog, Kinder-Craze and enter there. Then, you can keep going until your fingers are too tired to hit click (that is how simple we made it for you!).

{Just a Note: If you don't win one of the giveaways, but you see a shirt that you really just have to have, they are offering our Freebilicious followers 20% off orders of $20 or more by using the code: FREE20  Enjoy!!}

bravo behavior (FREEBIES!)

 

I’ve found that the most effective way to keep things calm (yet still fun!) in my classroom is to constantly mix up my reward system! My expectations always stay the same, but how I reward positive behavior is constantly changing (maybe I get bored easily? I don’t know!).

So, in order to keep things fresh and fun, we started using this motivating Bravo Behavior Board I made up in our classroom. It has been working like a CHARM!

Click on the picture below to download it for free!

How to Use:

-Laminate a Bravo Behavior Board (click here to download)
-Each time you witness an entire table showing "Bravo Behavior," choose ONE “table captain”  to shade in/check a space on the board using a dry erase marker.
-If a table group shades in three boxes, they earn a prize.

You could also have students try to fill all spaces (black out) before earning a prize. It’s up to you!

Prior to giving each table group a board, I suggest making a little chart of what “Bravo Behavior” looks like and sounds like. I know that it’s the end of the year and that students already know your expectations, but doing this extra little step really helps hold them accountable. We all need a little extra reminder sometimes, right? 

Our little extra reminder chart included: working cooperatively, remaining responsible for our own learning, allowing others to learn, creating a safe school, being respectful to peers and teachers, etc.

In addition to whole class behavior incentives, I’ve also started implementing individual behavior boards for certain students who need something more than the table group incentive.

I saw this SUPER CUTE superhero behavior chart on Pinterest and thought it was perfect for a couple of my little friends. This idea originally came from Pocket Full of Posies. This blogger uses it with her own children, but it also works wonderfully in the classroom. I’m using this board in lieu of a traditional behavior chart, but I’m sure you could use both if you wanted. When I presented this behavior board to one of my students, he was THRILLED to see his actual picture. So motivating!

(FYI: This is a photo of my nephew - not a student in my class!)

This is what it looks like without a child’s face over top. Still super cute!

I know some students aren’t thrilled with superheroes, so I used the same boards with different themes. I plan on using these in future years!

Here’s a PAW-FECT puppy behavior board for the puppy lovers:

Here’s one for the popcorn/movie lovers:

Here’s one for the rock stars:

And, I couldn’t forget the cat lovers!

Click on the collage below to download everything above for free. Thanks again to  Pockets Full of Posies for the inspiration!

 

What are you doing to keep things rolling in your classroom?

family fun!

I spent the day at my parent’s house for some much overdue shenanigans. We celebrated Mother’s Day and my dad’s birthday. I loved every minute of it.

We played “family fun” games, ate LOTS of yummy food, caught frogs (not my idea…ha!), relaxed in the garden, swung from the tree swing, and LAUGHED, LAUGHED, LAUGHED!

I brought my camera and took lots of pictures! Below is a picture of my sister, Faith, my sweet mom, my niece, Abby, and my sister, Jessi. I swear, my precious mama doesn’t age! I also snapped a few of my nephew, Topher, on the tree swing. This boy CRACKS  ME UP! He is going into the first grade next year. Where did the time go? And, look at those flowers from my mom’s garden! I wish I had a quarter of a green thumb. Beautiful!!!

Here are more of my niece and nephew and a picture of these yummy mini-cupcakes my talented chef-sister, Jessi, made! I love that girl, but I’d be in trouble if we lived any closer. Not kidding!

 

Happy Mother’s Day! Hope your day was as special as ours!

teachers - you rule!

Who doesn’t love a sale? I do!!!

Be sure to stock up on some awesome resources you have on your wish list on May 7-8th! Two days to shop? Yes, please!  I know I’ll be feeding my clip art addiction tomorrow (and on Wednesday).

28% off is a MEGA deal. Just make sure you type TAD13 at checkout.

My entire shop will be on sale!!!! Click HERE to visit my shop.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, my dear friends!

Ready Made for Second Grade!

Hi Friends!

The end of the year is just around the corner. Can you believe it? One of the biggest questions I get asked by parents during this time of year is, “What can I do during the summer to make sure my child retains everything he/she has learned this school year?”

Well, Hadar, also known as Miss Kindergarten and I collaborated together and created two versions of a summer review packet to answer just that question! I created one for students about to enter second grade, which focus on skills students should have mastered in first grade. Hadar created one for students who are about to enter first. You can read all about her packet here. 

I created practice activities that I thought would be beneficial for students to work on over the summer in order for my students to be ready made for second grade!

Included in this packet is a letter to parents/guardians explaining the importance of working on reading, writing, and math skills over the summer.

I broke down each component of the packet so that parents have a full understanding of what each activity was intended for.

This packet also includes a list of suggested books that are age-appropriate for students about to enter second grade. All of these books can be checked out at the library! I always encourage my parents to have their child sign up for their very own library card. This gives them some independence and makes reading even more exciting!

You’ll also find a fun reading incentive reward system and a summer bingo activity reward system (which includes a cute coupon book).

Some other fun components of the packet are these Common Core aligned review pages (which focus on reading foundational skills, writing, and mathematics).

There are 18 review pages in all.

And, these fun summer journals (with writing prompts):

You’ll also find two math fluency booklets (one for addition and one for subtraction):

 

And, lots of reading organizers (with reading question cards) that will pair perfectly with any book:

I plan on making a baggy full of these resources for each of my students! I LOVE gallon-sized bags. They are so useful!

You can find all of these resources (plus lots more) at my TPT Shop.

Click on the cover below to go grab this on sale!

Also, like always, the first two people who leave me a comment with their e-mail address will get this packet for free!

End of the Year Memory Books

 

I was looking at my calendar and realized that Wednesday is May 1st.  MAY 1st, people!!!

Unlike many of my summer-break-begins-in-May friends (SO JEALOUS!), our summer break starts sometime in June on a day that has yet to be decided. Ha! I guess it’s over when it’s over. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be completing our First Grade Memory Books and soon first grade will be a thing of the past for these toothless babies. Wah! I don’t want them to grow up.

Last year, the entire first grade made these little books and they turned out so cute. I’ve made some updates to the packet this year, including a new cover, clip art, and layout changes.

Here are some of the pages from the memory book. There are LOTS more pages included!

This download includes:
First Grade Celebration Book Cover Page 5
Draw a Picture of Yourself Page 6
First Grade Stats Page 7
My School Rocks Page 8
My First Grade Teacher Page 9
My First Grade Favorites Page 10
Interview a Friend Page 11
Friends in 1st Page 12
Fantastic Field Trip Page 13
Yay for Play Page 14
A Look Inside My Favorite Book Page 15
Munch and Crunch Page 16
I’m a Caring Kid Page 17
Be Responsible! Page 18
A “First” in First Grade Page 19
A Goal I Still Have for Myself Page 20
My Favorite Subject Page 21
My Favorite Special Page 22
A Note to the Future Me Page 23
A Note from the Teacher (Post Card) Page 24
A Look Into the Future Page 29
That was Funny! Page 30
Autographs (Last Page of Book) Page 31
End of the Year Craftivity Page 32-44

I’ve also updated the Kindergarten Memory Book version and the Second Grade Memory Book version. You can find both of them at my TPT shop. Click on the covers below.

I’m off to make tacos. Yum! Goodnight, my sweet friends!

Pairs of Pears (Homophone Fun!)

 

My kids are OBSESSED with homophones now thanks to Sarah Cooley’s precious pack, Pairs of Pears!

Go check it out HERE!

First, we read Dear, Deer! If you don’t already have this book, you must check it out. It’s perfect for teaching homophones.

Then, we played Pingo (a homophone version of Bingo), went on a hunt for pairs of pears, and then made our own pairs of pears. Check out some of the pictures below.

All of the activities above are straight out of Sarah’s pack!!!

How do you teach your students all about homophones?