Saturday, June 30, 2012

Guest Post!

Hey guys!  I am so excited about this Blog Hop and Swap that's happening today:)  I know you are going to enjoy Tabitha's post!  I think she is sharing such a cute idea!  I will be over at Grade School Giggles posting, so I hope you check that out too!!  Enjoy!

I'm so stoked to be here guest blogging for Britney at Mrs. V's Adventures in Teaching Blog! My name is Tabitha Carro, and I've taught kindergarten and am now teaching 4th grade Spanish immersion in the content areas of math and science.

So, enough intro., as we try to relax and rest this summer, we still can't help the swirl and whirl of ideas that tornado through the back of our heads in preparation for the upcoming school year. I'm not big at writing and explaining new theories and practices in the classroom, which are all great, don't get me wrong. But what I do love to do is create fun and simple activities to keep my students engaged and happy about learning.

So, this is what I've created for you:


It's...a....COOTIE CATCHER!! :p This cootie catcher is created in color and B&W (and in Spanish!) and provides a back-to-school activity for students to get to know each other.

Here's how I plan to use the Spanish one in my classroom next year:

1) I will probably assembly them beforehand instead of having my students do them (instructions are included). Although I've had my students make them before in the past, it takes time, and I'm not sure I feel like pulling out something new that would really require concentration and focus right at the beginning of the year.

2) I will pass one out to each student.

3) Students will randomly go to another person and begin using the cootie catchers to ask get-to-know-you questions (directions are also provided for this part).

4) After five minutes or so, I will sound a timer, and students will need to choose a different partner and continue the activity.

5) Once I see that the activity has served it's purpose, I will stop the activity.

6) With students in their seats, I will go down the roll, naming the children one at a time. Instead of putting that child on the spot, I will actually be putting the rest of the class on the spot. Why is that? Because the rest of the class will need to tell me the information they learned about that specific student while playing with the cootie catchers.

And that's a wrap! Click the following buttons to download where you wish.



I hope this is something you can use and will find helpful as you prepare for the beginning of the next school year.

Thanks so much for the opportunity, Britney!

Here's some other info. about me you may like:

Hope you'll give me a visit sometime!

Tabitha Carro, FlapJack Educational Resources



Sunday, June 24, 2012

Blog Swap and Hop!

Next Saturday, some friends and I are participating in a Blog Swap and Hop. We're all switching blogs for the day! There'll be a guest here while I'm posting somewhere else. You'll be able to hop through to check them all out. I'm sure there'll be some great freebies for you to grab as well. It will be a great chance to check out new bloggers- I can't wait! Check out the great bloggers who are participating:





Friday, June 22, 2012

Pinterest + Good Friends = Lots of fun!!

Ok....warning....this post has nothing to do with teaching.  Well, it kind of does.....I was with teachers that I work with...that counts, right?!?

So, today a teacher friend hosted a Pinterest party!  We all brought an appetizer that we found on Pinterest, and a craft that we had been wanting to make!  It was so much fun! I highly suggest it!  We ate, laughed, crafted, and ate some more!  Here are the crafts that we made! Everyone did such a great job!



My crafts are the coasters and the wine cork trivet. 

We are having another Pinterest Party next month, and we are going to devote that one to school crafts!  

Well, that's all for now!  Have a great day! 



Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Favorite TpT Items and stores

First of all, thank you to Teaching in Heels for hosting this linky party:)


Teachers Pay Teachers has become so popular!  I personally think it is the best thing since sliced bread:)  There are thousands of items to buy for WAY cheaper than at teacher stores like The School Box. There are also TONS of FREE items on this website.    In this post I will be sharing my favorite priced item in my store, and my most popular freebie from my store!  Enjoy!


1. Fist, I will share 2 of my current favorite priced items in my store.   The first one is this Halloween Measurement and Line Plot Graphing.  Line plot graphs are new to second grade next year in the Commom Core Standards. The common core standards state that students should plot measurements on a line plot graph!  This product (along with my christmas themed one!)  addresses that standard perfectly!  I taught line plot graphs in third grade, and let me tell you, they are difficult for third graders, so I know second graders will need lots of practice throughout the year.  I have one of these for Halloween, Christmas, and Easter so far!  Take a look! 



My next favorite priced item in my store is this fact fluency motivation activity.





Each time students master a set of addition facts, they get a crayon in their box.  This product also includes fluency quizzes and a teacher recording page! 





2.. Next,  I will share the most popular FREEBIE from my store.  Check out these writing offices:




These file folder writing offices include punctuation rules, synonyms for commonly over used words, and, my favorite part, writing prompts for when students finish the day's writing assignment. 
Well thanks for reading about my store!  Be sure to browse around Teacher Pay Teachers because there are TONS of great things on there:) 

















Monday, June 18, 2012

Classroom Theme Linky Party

We are all teachers here...so we all know how it is!  We LOVE to look at other teachers' classrooms and get ideas!  So, I joined this cute linky party at Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies



A while back, I found this classroom on.....where else?!?....Pinterest!  I became inspired, and I plan to basically copy her whole classroom!  It is so cute, and everything seems to have a purpose.  It doesn't seem like fluff!  So, my them is black, red, polka dots, and lady bugs!  Below are pictures of some things that I have made, purchased, or plan on making and purchasing for next year:)  Enjoy!


I made this to use as my behavior system....(NERD ALERT).....on the first day of summer! 



I saw these on the blog I mentioned earlier....


I plan on using them to display the names of students in each math group.  BUT....I want to put the students' names on these.....


Here are some other things that I have purchased


I love how this teacher put a shelf at each table!  (This is from the same blog that I linked to earlier in this post)


And last, but not least....I LOVE this!  (still from the same blog.....see, I told you I am pretty much going to copy her whole room!)



Well, I think that's about it for now!  Now, I'm all inspired!  I thnk I will go make something:)  

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to Shelley Snyder for winning the giveaway! 



If you did not win the giveaway you can download it fro my TpT store for just $3.00!  Thank you so much for entering!  

Thursday, June 14, 2012

It has been a while.....

Wow!  It has been a busy, busy couple of weeks for us!  We had some company in town for a while, so I didn't blog while they were here.  THEN, our computer was having some issues, so we had to take it to be worked on.  People...I was without a computer....FoR. FiVE.DaYs!!!!!!!  No blogging, no facebooking, no pinteresting....NOTHING!  I was so thankful to have it back! 

Anyway, I just finished up my latest product, and I am very excited about it!!!



This product is an addition fact fluency motivation craftivity...whew!  Say that three times fast:) It includes fluency quizzes, teacher recording page, and of course the craft!  Here's how it works:  Each student gets a crayon box template and a set of crayons (there is 1 crayon for each set of facts). When they master a set of addition facts, they get to put a crayon in their box.  I plan to hand all of mine on the wall somewhere in my room, and let them add crayons as they master the facts.  Here is a close up:


This is what it will look like when the students have mastered all their addition facts through 9 + 9.

 
Of course....a new product calls for a GiVeAwAy!!!  To enter, just leave a comment.  I will be selecting a winner on Sunday night using a random number generator!  Good Luck! 

Have a Great day everyone:) 

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Lovely Blog Awards

 I was so honored to receive the Lovely Blog Award from Jackie the other day:) 

Jackie has always been so helpful to me, and she always leaves the sweetest comments on my blog!  And of course....her blog is awesome! You should check it out:)   Thank you Jackie for giving me this award!  Now....I get to give this award to other bloggers.  But first, here are the rules if you receive the blog award:


1. Follow the person who gave you the award....check!
2. Tell your readers about the bloggers who gave you the award....check!
3. Pass the award on to 15 other bloggers....check!

Congratulations to these lovely bloggers!!





Mrs. Siegel at The Teachaholic







Elizabeth at Fun in Room 4B




I hope everyone had a TeRrIfIc TuEsDaY!!!
















Saturday, June 2, 2012

Second Summer Project........and it is a FREEBIE!!

So, a while back I blogged about wanting to make these cute writing offices for my students next year. However, as I started browsing to figure out what I wanted to put in mine, I couldn't find exactly what I wanted. So, I decided to create some things. Here is what I came up with:


Located inside is:  Punctuation rules, capitalization rules, no excuse words, rules for a complete sentence, and synonyms for commonly over used words. 

It also contains this:
When the students are finished with the day's writing assignment they can pick something from each of these pockets to write about.  The top pocket is a genre and the second pocket is a topic.  I am going to let my kids add some personalized topics to the second pocket after we make the writing offices. Here is a closer look at these pockets.

If you would like to download the templates to make these writing offices for FREE click here. Enjoy!