Happy Mother's Day and an End of the Year Freebie

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      Better late than never, but Happy Mother's Day to all my blogging friends! I hope it has been the best one ever! Over on my facebook page, I posted a picture of the craft that we made for our awesome classroom mothers! In case you missed it, here is a little looksy!

I have made these for my classroom mothers and through multiple siblings.  It was awesome to hear that some of them still have them and treasure them!

      I know many of you are only a FEW days away from summer vacay!  Please, please don't rub it in!  We have to go until June 6th!  I know, right?!   We still have 19 days to go!  I'm looking so forward to summer, but another part of me is soooooo sad!  I have a great group of sweet kiddos and am going to HATE to see them go!

Anyway...

      Many of you are looking for a great activity to share with your kiddos for the end of the year.  My students have always loved this next little freebie!  It is a little memory booklet that the students will be able to take home that includes things that their classmates liked or remembered about them.  It gives them a way to practice those writing skills that you have been working on all year long! I have included some color versions and black and white versions. Just click on the picture to take you to TeachersPayTeachers.

I hope you and your kiddos enjoy!

BTW, I guess I'm just begging for a letdown, but how many days of school do you have left??  I promise I won't cry...well, maybe... ;)

Till next time...

Valentines, Ice, and a FREEBIE!!

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It's almost the day of LoVe!  My kiddos are so excited!  Typically, Valentine's is all about some candy.  However, at our school, we have STRICT no sweets rule!  That means we can't have cakes, cookies, cupcakes, candy, etc. at our parties or give any type of food as a reward.

Well, there goes the cute little Valentines cards that includes the candy.  To get around that, I've decided to do a cute, little Valentines homework pass.  I think they'll really love it!  I mean, who doesn't like a night free of homework!?!  Teachers included!!!

Here in Georgia, they are calling for more snow and ice!  You've probably heard of what happened in Atlanta two weeks ago.  Snowmageddon??   Many schools have already cancelled for tomorrow and Wednesday.  We haven't yet.  They SAY our area should really get bad until Tuesday night...We'll see!  Anyway, with as much ice that is expected, we may not even make it to school on Valentine's Day!  I sure hope so though!

Anyway, I'm including my little Valentine's homework pass!  I hope you and your students love them!  Just hop over to TeachersPayTeachers or click on the image to grab your homework passes!

Till next time...

Freebie Friday and a {{GIVEAWAY!!}}

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Hi everyone!  I hope your Friday the 13th was better than mine!  I'm normally not one to even think about Friday the 13th, but after today...I might have to give it some credit!!  My kiddos were H*L* on wheels today, I almost backed into a bus in our school parking lot, and not one, but TWO cars almost hit me on the way home!!  What?!  I got home and haven't left!!

Anyway, I've got some kiddos that do not know their sight words so for that small group of kids, I am printing out this little FREEBIE for them and highlighting the words that they know.  As I periodically check them, I will just continue to highlight the words.  The students keep them in their book bags so that their parents can work with them each night.  I'm linking up with Teaching Blog Addict for Freebie Friday!




                            

This folder contains the Dolch sight word list plus the Dolch nouns and some additional sight words.  Click on any picture to take you to my TpT store for this FREEBIE!!

And don't forget to enter for this awesome birthday giveaway for a Classroom Friendly Supplies precious pink pencil sharpener!!

  
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!!

Happy, Happy, Happy for Place Value!

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Hi y'all!

      I'm stopping in quickly tonight to share some fun place value task cards that I set up for my class to use! They will be happy, happy, happy when they see these Duck Dynasty themed place value task cards!
Who doesn't LOVE Duck Dynasty?!?!

      I have created two versions.  The first version is just regular task cards with a recording sheet.  The second version has a QR Code checking option.  They are aligned to 2.NBT1 and 2.NBT3.

      Just click on the pics to take you to either version.

**This 2nd version is the exact same set, except that it has a QR Code checking option.

And, for sticking with me through this post, the first 3 comments will get the set of your choice!  Just leave your version choice along with your email!
Whoo-hoo for FREEBIES!!

First 3 comments - GO!!

Till next time!

Tech Tuesday - Group Maker {AND a FREEBIE!}

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      Happy Tuesday!  It's my last Tuesday before I have to start back for pre-planning!  :(     This summer has passed by sooooo quickly.

      I wanted to share an app I found that can help you quickly and randomly group your students.  Sometimes, you just need to break up into groups for various reasons - they need to be grouped heterogeneously.  This little app called GroupMaker will do that for you very quickly!

      I'm going to attempt to walk you through setting it up.  :)

 

This is what the app icon looks like.  Once you click on the app, it will guide you to name your class.  You can have multiple classes loaded into the app.  Once you name your class or classes, you will come to a screen that looks like this:

      The Edit button at the top left gives you the option to delete the class.  The New button is where you can add additional classes.  

      I just need one class so I would just touch my class.  That leads me to the next screen where you start adding in your students.  

      When you touch Add Member+, it asks for first name and last name so it's up to you if you add the last name.  I wanted them sorted alphabetically by last name so I just put the last initial.  This app gives you the option of adding the gender and race of each student.  You just click on the little arrow by each student's name.  

BTW, Tiger is my D-O-G!  

        If you choose to do that and it's complete, the next step is to group your students!  Whoo-Hoo!!  This app allows you to group from 1 up to 20!  (I'm not sure why you would need the setting for a group of one, but hey...who am I to argue?!)

      As you can see from the pic above, I grouped my class into groups of 4.  In order to change the number in each group, all you need to do is slide the little slider up at the top.  As you can see, this is where you can also account for gender and race.  I'm not sure why you would need the sort randomly toggle because if it's off, it's already sorting randomly.  As for the miscellaneous toggle, I have no idea.  On the screen where you put the race and gender, there is a place for miscellaneous, but I'm not sure how to use it!  If you figure it out, let me know!!!

      All in all, this is a cool, little app for the times when you need to group students quickly and randomly.  It is a little time consuming inputting all the information in, but this is the time of the year when we have to put their names on and in everything, so what's one more thing?

      Try this app out and let me know what you think!

Oh, I almost forgot...I have a little freebie for you.  Pennants/buntings are all the rage so I whipped up a get to know you pennant for my class.  Each kiddo will complete it and decorate it and I will display it for a great back to school display.  Enjoy!!

Till next time...

Throwback Thursday

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I'm finally getting to participate in Cara's Throwback Thursday linky! I have enjoyed reading everyone's and decided it was time to link up my own!


                                         

      I'm linking up this post from last year for Monday Made-It.  It's my version of the Where Am I? board that is all over Pinterest.  When students leave the room, the students move their magnets that have their magic number on it.  (The magic number is what I call the number I give them for my organizational purposes!)
                                                  


      Since I've been using this board, I know where all my students are at all times!  I know, I know, we're supposed to always know that anyway, but there are times before when I was like, "Now, where did I send them?"  Please, please tell me I am not alone!!

      Anywho, I have included a little FREEBIE to go along with this post so you can make your own board!  There are a few different color combinations for you!

     
Till next time...

Currently...It's Monday Made-It {July 1}

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      Two of my most favorite linkys happen today!

Farley's Currently ANNNDDDD, it's time for Tara's Monday Made-It!!

First up-----July's Currently!

      Currently, I'm listening to Duck Dynasty.  Who doesn't love that show?!  It just makes you Happy, Happy, Happy to see such a fun family!

      I'm loving summer, but man!  It needs to seriously SLOW down!!  I mean, come on!  It's July already!  It seems like I was just doing Roller Chair Races for the end of post-planning just yesterday!  

      I am seriously longing for the beach, but it will have to wait!  We aren't going for another couple of weeks!  {Big sigh, right there!}

      Last night I did need to go to bed, but what was I doing?  Creating my Currently instead.  

      In this whole blogging experience, you should always make sure you are having fun and definitely be yourself!!  If you're not doing either of those, you won't enjoy it like you should and it will become a chore!

      Now, onto Monday Made-It!  

                                    

Monday Made-it #1:

      I've been wanting to do some dabbling in creating things for my classroom using QR codes sooooo.... this week, I made some an awesome little set that I plan on letting them use during math centers.  They are for addition within 100 with no regrouping!  They can be used in some many different ways!  Love them and I think my students will absolutely love these!!  If you would like them for free, be the first 3 to comment!! :)

Monday Made-It #2:

      Ok, so I found this great magnetic board last week.  I didn't get it and it has been on my mind ever since.  So, today, back to TJMax!  I think it is great!  The finish is kind of a turquoise that has been roughed up a bit.  Shabby chic love!  

      This beauty didn't come with any magnets and I've been wanting to make these glass blob magnets.  This was the perfect time!  I had some cute scrapbook paper and some peel and stick magnets.  I stuck the magnet on the scrapbook paper and cut around it.  Then, I placed a dab of hot glue on the the scrapbook paper side of the magnet and stuck the glass blob right on top, pressed down, and Voila!  A cute little magnet for my new board.  I can't wait to hang it in my classroom!

Just noticed I need to trim up that chevron one!  Ha!

Head over to Farley and Tara's to check out their awesome linkys!

Till next time...

Robin

Math Madness and a FREEBIE!

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      Happy Sunday, y'all!  It has been an amazing first week off for sweet summertime!  We have mostly been at the baseball field.  My youngest is playing in a summer league for his high school so we get lots of quality time at the good ole ballfield!

      I have been thinking a lot about Back to School.  I know, I know!  But, we all do it!  Our vacation is still a couple of weeks away so I'm still thinking about school.

      Anyway, I've added two new things to my TpT store that I am so excited about!  The first product is a resource to use for your Math Talk.  It is a set of sentence stems that can be used to guide your math discussions.  Common Core demands that we have these math discussions with our students.

      Before I got my masters degree last year in math education, I taught the skill and if they got it right - Whoo-hoo!  Well, that's what I thought anyway, but through my program, I learned so much about what my students were thinking.  I learned that they should discuss and defend their solutions!  Wow, this was just in time for Common Core!  I have really felt a little ahead of the game in my math instruction!  Ha!  Is that even possible in a teacher's world???

This is the first product:

      I'm really excited about these because they can lead to such great math discussions and you can really understand what your students are thinking about their math and clear up any misconceptions if they happen to have any!

      As I said earlier, I am already thinking about Back to School so I decided to revamp some of my beginning of the year math centers.  This is my first time putting them on TpT.  There are 11 different centers ranging in skills from ordering numbers, time, money, math facts, among others.  Each center has a direction page with cards and/or a recording sheet.  I hope you'll check them out!  

      Oh!  If you go to the page and click on PREVIEW, you can snatch a little FREEBIE!  Whoo-hoo!!

      Now, I'm off to enjoy the rest of this evening!

Till next time...

   

Happy Monday and a FREEBIE!

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      Happy Monday everyone!  It is a very happy Monday indeed!  I have four days, count them ----FOUR DAYS and we will finally be on Spring Break!  I have been so jealous of all of you having your spring breaks and I thought mine would never come!  You better believe I will be doing the happy Friday dance in FOUR days!!

      Anyway, I am stopping by tonight to link up with Flying Into First for her fabulous weekly linky as well as linking up with Classroom Freebies for a fun Spring Bump game in honor of my long awaited Spring Break!  Ha!



      For LaToya's linky, the topic is...

 The Skittles Game

Here is the code:

Red- Favorite Ice Cream Flavor

Orange- Favorite Memory from College

Yellow- Favorite Sports Team

Green- Favorite Fast Food Place

Purple- Wild Card(Tell anything about yourself)

Red - We have this little specialty ice cream store that opens in the spring and summer that has all these amazing ice cream flavors, some of which I would never try (caramel bacon, HOT Mexican chocolate).  Ummm, no thanks!  My all time favorite they offer though is Bourbon Burnt Sugar!  Man, is it ever delish!!! They have other stuff too like peanut butter and jelly, coffee and donuts, really cool flavors! 

Orange - I hope I don't get in trouble for this one, but when I was a freshman, some of my sorority sisters and I dressed up like Madonna (I'm dating myself...the whole 80's garb was kickin'!)  Mind you, I was a freshman so very underage, but we all headed to a club for one of them to participate in a lip synch contest!  We had such a great time!  

Yellow - My favorite sports team is any team my son is playing on!  I also love the Clemson Tigers!  My husband played football there so they always hold a special place!!

                                                       

Green - Welcome to Moe's!  I love Moe's!

Purple - I cannot wait for Spring Break!  I know, that's not really something about myself, but I really, really have spring break on the brain!

Now, for my link-up with Classroom Freebies!  This is a fun Spring Bump game for your little kiddos to play!

Now, had over to Classroom Freebies and grab some great freebies!  And, don't forget to link up with Flying Into First!

Till next time...

Book Box FREEBIE!

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      Just popping in very quickly tonight to offer you a quick freebie!  I use book boxes in my room as part of my students read to self and read with a partner.  In order to trade out a book, they must complete this book box form.  It gives me a record of what they are reading on their own and it gives a record of their understanding of the book.  It also gives them an opportunity to state an opinion about the book and whether or not they would recommend it to a friend.  There are two on a page and I print them front to back, cut them apart, and put them in a book box form basket.

      I hope you can use it!  Click on the picture to grab your FREEBIE!

      Also, I am linking up with Classroom Freebies so hop over and grab some great FREEBIES!

Till next time...

My Week in Review

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      WOW!  This has been a looonnnggg week!  I was so glad to wake up and know that today was finally  Friday!  Did your week feel long?

       And, it just wouldn't be Friday without linking up with Amanda at Teaching Maddeness and Doodle Bugs Teaching for my week in review!
                                             

•  Teaching Blog Addict is having a little birthday bash!  They are hosting the ultimate freebie celebration with freebies for grades Pre-K through 6th grade!  Head over there to grab up some great freebies!!

                                      

•  We had to have a little crisis drill lockdown on Tuesday.  They were all super sweet and stayed as quiet as a mouse!  It was so quiet and still that a few decided it would be a great time for a nap!  Wish I could have joined them!  Ha

       

•  We've been working a bit on practicing basic fractions and how the whole must be in equal parts.  I learned about this little game while taking my masters classes in math education.  It is so simple and yet the kids LOVE it!  They make the game  pieces and practice fractions and it keeps them actively learning!  What more could you ask?

 The materials are:  construction paper (at least 4 colors) and 

                              a die that can be labeled with 1/2, 1/4, 1/8

How to prepare:  Decide which color will represent each fraction of the whole.  (I used blue for 1/2, yellow     

                           for 1/4, and hot pink for 1/8.  For the gameboard, I used brown.  The gameboard 

                           represents the whole.)

                           For your color that represents the half, I tell them to fold the paper in half, crease it, lick it 

                           (I know, but  it helps with the tearing!), and then tear it.  Set this aside.

**Side note, my professor said that if was really important for them to actually tear the pieces instead of cutting them with scissors.  She said that they make more of a connection of how the pieces fit together to make the whole.  I've always had them tear it and they understand the concepts  I want them to learn so why mess up a good thing, right?

                           Do the same thing for your paper that will represent the 1/4, but then tear each half in half.

                           Do the same thing for your paper that will represent the 1/8, but tear each 1/4 into 1/8.  

                           Are you still with me????  Hope so, because your kids will love it! ☺

How to play:  Each kiddo puts their gameboard in front of them.  The first player rolls the die and the student 

                           covers whatever the die tells them.  The next player does the same thing.  They must cover

                           the entire gameboard with none overlapping and none overhanging.  It must be a perfect 

                           fit.  The first one to cover their gameboard is the winner!  So easy!

      As students play this game, they come to see equivalent fractions and begin to use these equivalent fractions to cover whatever their die lands on.  It is so cool to watch!  They love it!  If you have any questions, just ask!  I know those directions are about as clear as mud!!

•  We all have them...the day that just won't end.  Today was my day.  Today has not been the easiest of days.  The kids are ready for spring break, I'm ready for spring break, and we still have two weeks to go.  UGH!  My kiddos, who are normally so, so sweet to each other are "Whah-whah-whahing" my to death!  Bickering about this, that, and everything in between... I am just so exhausted from it!!

   Anyway, I digress, you get the idea!  I know you can relate!  I drag myself to my car after school and I find a beautiful bouquet of flowers inside.  My sweet husband had taken his lunch time to go get flowers, drive from his job, and put them in my car with a sweet note for me to find!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!  He had no idea that I'd had a rough day, which makes it even more perfect!  It was just the pick-me-up I needed to start this wonderful weekend!

I hope you had a great week!  Now, go link up and blog about your it!!

Till next time...