Follower Appreciation Days: Freebies, Flash Giveaways and More

I am on Spring Break this week and I am trying to catch up on some unfinished products, start some new ones and just get caught up with life. I want to thank each and everyone of you for following me. Whether it is my blog, TpT store, FB page, or on IG, I truly appreciate all your support and kind words. To celebrate all of you and for reaching a few personal milestones, I will be sharing my love with you this week. 

I will be announcing the gifts I am giving away on my Facebook page and on Instagram. If you follow me already, make sure you click on "get notifications" under my FB page tab so you don't miss out on the flash giveaways and freebies. If you are not a follower yet, click on the links above to take you there so you can follow!

Today's thank you gift is task card sign you can make for your classroom. Click on the picture to take you to my TpT store to download this freebie. If you download it, please leave some feedback love.

I will also be having flash sales with HUGE discounts on products of your choice. Please visit my TpT store and leave a comment below telling me which product ($5.00 or less) you would like to see during a flash sale. If there are several contenders, I will choose the 3 most requested items. 

Thank you again for all your sweet comments, support, and friendships! I appreciate all of you!

Friday Freebies Galore & What I Have Been Up To

Who doesn't like a freebie, right? I haven't met a teacher who doesn't jump up and down with glee and appreciation when a freebie comes their way. 

1. It's FB Frenzy time! There are hundreds of great resources up for grabs. Head on over to my FB Page, like my page and you can grab this fun math craftivity!

2. There are only a couple days left to grab a ton of awesome freebies during Erin over a I'm Lovin' Lit's Winter Planning Giveaway.

3. We worked on opinion writing this week. My kids had to explain why Rudolph or Olive, the Other Reindeer would be a better guide for Santa's sleigh.

4. With only 10 more days until winter break, it was time to start our holiday gifts for our parents. My mom came into my classroom today to help the kids make salt dough snowman ornaments. We got the first stage completed today. They have been baked.  Next week we will paint them and spray them. I can't wait to show you the final product.

5. My kids came into the classroom and found this today. They each got a lump of coal (black Rice Krispie ball) from Snowflake our elf. Then, they had to write an opinion letter to Santa explaining he had made a mistake. They HAD to be on the nice list. Thank you Hope King for this creative writing idea.

Link up and share your week of fun with all of us!

Elf Preparation and a Giveaway

I have caved... I have taken the plunge.... I have made the commitment... to open my classroom to a TON of mischief. This little guy is on his way....

I have wanted to invite this little guy into my classroom for awhile, but never followed through. Well, this year I am following through in a BIG way! His plane ticket has been purchased and we are just waiting for him to land. While I have been waiting for his arrival, I decided I better have a lot of things for him to do while he is in town. This weekend, I created this little packet:

There is a calendar of events of suggested elf placement ideas for several weeks. I copied and began prepping our Where is Our Elf? journal booklets. The kids are going to write and illustrate where they find our elf each day and what he is doing. We are going to make elf hats and the kids are going to wear them while they are journal writing each day. We are going to choose a name for our new classmate too. Then, we are going to graph the top choices. 

Each student is going to fill out a job application to be one of Santa's helpers. Our classroom elf is going to "grade" each application and approve or not approve each one!  Don't worry, Santa needs lots of helpers. You can never have enough elves at the North Pole.

We are also going to make an elf craftivity and write about why we should be Santa's helper. Writing pages are also included for students to write a letter to Santa or make an acrostic poem about elves.

I can't wait for all the fun to begin!If you want to bring a bit of mystery and fun to your classroom too, you can grab your copy of my packet by clicking HERE or on the pictures above. It will be on sale until tomorrow night.

I also want to share an AMAZING giveaway opportunity with all of you. My sweet friend, Tania, at My Second Sense is having a week's worth of giveaways. Day 1 and Day 2 are already up and ready for the grabbing. There are different prize packages everyday. Each one is only up for 3 days! SO HURRY on over to enter!!!

Odd and Even Giveaway

Really quick post tonight, my sweet blogging friends! My boys and I are getting ready to cheer on our beloved Dodgers and I still have to make dinner! However, I wanted to share my newest unit with all of you. Hot off the press... ODD and EVEN Activities and Strategies

I am giving away one copy of this unit on my FB page. Make sure to head over, like my FB page, and leave a comment with your email address. I will choose one winner at 9pm PST tonight! 

Congratulations, Jenna F!!!

Make sure to leave your comment on my FB page, not here, in order to be entered to win. 

This unit will also be on sale through tomorrow night! 

I will write a more detailed post about these activities later this week. We are starting odd and even practice tomorrow. I will have tons of pictures to share.

Good luck everyone! GO DODGERS!

October Currently, Candy Corn Place Value and a Giveaway!

Holy smokes! It's finally here...one of my favorite times of year....OCTOBER! I am linking up with Farley to share this month's Currently with you.

My house is empty at the moment. Everyone is at sports practice. It is a little strange actually. I am not sure what to do with myself. 

I LOVE Fall and everything about fall. It is still a little warm here. But I am SO looking forward to bustin' out my boots and scarves soon.

I just found out Starbucks has brought back their salted caramel mochas!! That brought a smile to my lips. I must get one NOW.

I can't wait for the leaves to start changing colors and the cool weather to arrive. It is such a beautiful time of year. 

I am in the middle of parent conferences right now. As much as I like meeting all the parents, it is so exhausting. I can't wait until Friday afternoon!

Here is a special TREAT for all of you. I am part of an incredible giveaway over at Table Talk with C & C. They are hosting a Best Seller Math Linky and Giveaway. Head on over and check out all the great math prizes. If you win, you will get my best selling Measuring Up unit!

I wanted to share a fun place value activity I did with my kiddos today. I got the idea, last year, from First Grade Wow. 

We are currently working on place value to 100, but I have some math whizzes. So, I kicked it up a notch and some of the kids chose numbers up to 1000. I gave them the choice. If they felt comfortable, they could choose a larger number than 100. They loved tracing over their work with a black felt tip marker. That is a special treat for them! Enjoy!

Make sure to link up with Farley and let us all know what you are currently up to for October! 

B2S Wise Decor Giveaway and Review!

Do you LOVE to decorate you classoom and home? Do you love HELP to decorate? Do you love EASY to decorate ideas? If you answered yes to any of these questions, I have the place for you and an awesome giveaway to go along with it!

Wise Decor Decorative Wall Lettering to Personalize Your World

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Katie from Wise Decor about trying one of their products and giving away $75 to their store to one lucky person. I was thrilled for this opportunity because decorating is a weakness of mine. So, I searched their website and found the PERFECT teacher item- Classroom Rules Modern Wall Decal- in turquoise and black to match my school colors and classroom theme, of course. It arrived this weekend and I put it up in my classroom today! Here is what it looked like when it arrived.

I found the perfect spot in my classroom for the letters and cleaned the surface before I measured where I wanted the letters to go exactly. Then, I used packing tape to put the letters in place on the wall. I wanted to make sure they were straight and centered before I adhered them.

Next, I peeled the back layer of paper off and slowly and gently pressed the letters to the wall to get them to lightly stick. This picture is really showing you step 3. I was doing this by myself and couldn't take a picture while I was peeling the back layer because I didn't want to move the letters out of place!

It is really important to use the squeegee to help secure the letters in place. Go over the letters several times before peeling the top layer of paper off.

Tada! My classroom rules are up and ready for the year! 

Now, this is the perfect item for me because I have been in the same classroom for 12 years. If you move rooms a lot this item might not work for you BUT there are TONS of items to choose for your home as well!

 Another item I LOVE is the mongrammed chalkboard calendar:

Chalkboard Calendar

Now it's your turn to win a $75 gift card to Wise Decor! All you have to do is follow Bright Concepts 4 Teachers and a few other enteries! Winners will be announced next Monday (the night before my first day of school with kiddos).What a great way to start the year! Spread the word and let's all start off our school year with beautiful decor! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Birthday Celebration FREEBIE

This is a super quick post today! I wanted to get this posted earlier today, but I just couldn't swing it! Today is my birthday and I want to celebrate with all of you! 

My mom and I went shopping and to lunch today to celebrate! My two boys came along, so you know the outting couldn't be too long!!! I love a good deal even if I am not paying. I found this top that I just fell in love with. It was the last one in a random rack of the store. This is a designer Ralph Lauren top for only...wait for it... $39! Yes folks that is correct! Originally $159 and it was mine today for the very low price of $39. UNBELIEVABLE! I LOVE it!

 

So since I can't give each of you this same deal, I am going to give you something even better!I have created a birthday bulletin board display for all of you to use in your classrooms. What better way to celebrate a birthday, than to make it beautiful for everyone to see, right? I just bought some new clip art and had to use it to make something special. This packet includes monthly headers, numbers, a birthday banner and birthday cards for each student. 

This item will be FREE in my TpT store through tomorrow night (July 17th). Just click on the picture to download it. 

Also, a quick reminder, there is still a short time to enter Day #3 and Day #4 of my 500 follower giveaway! Aimee (Primarily Speaking) and I would love for you to enter, if you haven't already. Just click on the links above to take you to them.

Common Core Vocabulary and Mind Blowing Giveaways!

I have just completed a task I started over a year ago...Yes, that's right...LAST summer!!! I started making ELA and Math vocabulary cards for my second grade classroom using the Common Core standards last summer. Then I had some teacher friends that taught different grades, who wanted them for their rooms too. I have slowly but surly made these cards for all the grade levels EXCEPT fifth grade.  My first task this summer was to get fifth grade complete! I am happy to say that both sets of vocabulary cards are finished and have been uploaded!!!

The ELA set has over 100 cards, all color coded by strand. Each card has the word, picture, definition and/or example to help your students remember their meanings.

The fifth grade Math CC vocabulary cards are also color coded by strand! There are over 50 cards with pictures and examples to engage your students.

 Click on any of the pictures above to take you to my TpT store where you can see more details about them- all grade levels K-5 are now available!

Now for the fun stuff.... GIVEAWAYS!!!

My sweet blogging friend, Tori from Tori's Teacher Tips is celebrating 800 followers with a HUGE Back to School giveaway! There are so many amazing bloggers that have helped her out. I am thrilled to be a part of it as well. Head on over and check out the goodies that are being offered!!

Also, Magic, Mistakes and Mayhem is have a 200 follower giveaway! Head on over there to win a $20 gift card of your choice PLUS tons of incredible teacher resources! I am donating a Winner's Choice item. 

Have a great Tuesday everyone! I am off to Michael's to do some damage. Can't wait to see what I will find there!

Quick Tip Linky and Giveaway

I am super excited to be joining a new weekly linky from Diving Into 2nd Grade and Hippo Horray for Second Grade.
                                      
I have been preparing and getting ready for next year. I am a planner and once I found out I was going to be teaching second grade again, a got my planning groove on! Here is my Quick Tip for this week:

Student Number Sticks

At the beginning of the year, my students each are assigned a number. I use these numbers for many things:

-numbers on papers

-cubbies

-behavior clip chart

-line order 

-class room helpers

-call on students in class etc.

I use these student number sticks to fairly call on students in class to answer questions, help with tasks, to make smaller groups etc. I keep them in a basket on my desk and use them throughout the day. I decided to change my room theme for next year. Our school colors are turquoise and black, so I am going with that color theme for next year. I "had" to make new number sticks to coordinate with my new colors. 

I hope this is a quick tip you can use in your classroom too!

I also want to remind everyone that I am hosting a fabulous giveaway to celebrate my first year of blogging. Several of my blogging buddies have joined up to help me make this extra special. I hope you will stop by and check it out! There is a little party favor FREEBIE for you to grab too!

Blogiversary Giveaway Celebration

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommies out there! I hope your day is filled with love and relaxation. Each and everyone of you deserves it! I am getting ready to spend the day with my boys at one of my favorite places- Santa Barbara! Brunch + the beach= one happy Mom! I can't wait to share pics with you later on.

But first, I have some exciting news:

It's hard to believe I started this amazing journey into the blogging world one year ago today! I have been incredibly blessed this last year. I have connected and formed friendships with so many of you. I have been able to share my teaching adventures and ramble about my crazy ideas- and you all have supported me. I can't thank you enough!

If you can't tell, I have been looking forward to this milestone and wanted to make it meaningful and special. In order to help celebrate this milestone, I have asked ten of my dear blogging friends to help spread the cheer. They have all touched my life in different ways. Some have helped answer my silly blogging questions, others have inspired me with their own blogs and all of them are supporters of my journey. They are a few special pieces of my blogging journey puzzle!

A party, wouldn't be a party without a party favor. I created a little something for each of you to take with you, as a way of saying thank you for being a follower. Make sure to enter the giveaway and before you leave, grab your FREEBIE!

 Now it is your turn to join in the fun and celebrate with me! This giveaway will run for one week. I will announce the winner next Sunday! Good luck!

Here are all the items you can win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Now that you have followed some of my favorite blogging friends, here is your prize! I created a little packet called A Day at the Beach Multiplication Activities to help you bring a bit of summer into your classroom, all while helping your kiddos review their multiplication skills. It includes a flap book and two array review sheets. Just click on the picture to download it now.

Thanks for helping me celebrate my first blogiversary and Happy Mother's Day!