12 on the 12th!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching and posting 12 random pictures from today. Actually, I am going to take this opportunity to post some pictures of my two adorable yorkies! I hope you find them as cute as I do!

Here's Max!

1. What do you mean it's time to get up?


2. Nope, I just can't do it!


3. Maybe if you tickle my belly, I'll get up!


4. I'm just going to stand here and look cute as you get ready for work!


5. Now, I think I'll play with my toy!


6. On second thought, I'm just going to hide from my crazy mommy with the camera!


7. Now it's time to try and wake Buddy! I try to coax him with the massager.


8. This is harder than it looks!


9. All right! I'll perk up for one picture only!


10.  And then it's back to bed!


Just think, all of this happened before 7:30 am! Time to go to work!

11. Once I got to school, I noticed that my lima beans had grown a lot last night. I usually just grow mold, so this really made me happy.

12. Finally, back home and ready to snap one more picture of Buddy doing what he does best!

I know this was a really sneaky way to show off my two little yorkie terrorists, but, a proud mommy's got to do what a proud mommy's got to do!

I hope you all link up, too! Thanks for looking!

Smartie Pants!

I found this cute idea at Sparkled Memories and wanted to share it with you in case you didn't see it. With the Florida state tests coming up next week (the FCAT), all the intermediate students and teachers are stressing out. The primary classes at my school have each adopted an intermediate class to write notes to, wishing them luck on the tests. My first and second grade classes made these cute pants:

Some of them went all out, decorating the pants with patches, rhinestones, and fancy designs. They are looking forward to handing them to their intermediate buddies. 

Update:

Here are the labels I made for the pants:

What does your school do to wish the children well on their tests? I'd love to get some more ideas. Thanks!

My Community Writing Freebie

This week, in Social Studies, my first graders are learning all about communities. To get them to think about what's in their community, I created this web for them to jot down their thoughts. Then, they rewrote the information in paragraph form. It's amazing how many children are not aware of the names of stores and places they visit in their community. They know they go there, but they don't pay attention to the names or their parents don't tell them. 

Click on the image below to get a copy of this UPDATED writing activity!

Here are some examples. I included lined paper in the download, but my students used storybook paper.

Please note that this writing activity has been updated since I took these pictures!

These students did not finish their paragraph yet, but I thought they did a good job on the web.

Vicky lives near me, so notice what she wrote in her web! She actually asked me if it would be okay for her to write that! How cute!

For a REALLY cute and creative communities project that would be a nice addition to this writing activity, check out Mrs. T's First Grade blog:

My students are also continuing to learn about plants and flowers. At this station, they are making paper flowers and writing a fact on each petal.

They are also enjoying an activity from Centers in a Bag. Here, they are sorting nouns, verbs, and adjectives and recording some of them on the recording sheet.

That's it for now. Thanks for looking. If you download the freebie, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks!

Happy Sunday Sale!

Today seems like a great day for a sale, right! Please hop on over to my TpT store, where you'll find every single item on sale for today only! Happy shopping! Here are some items I have in my store:

And so much more! If you purchase anything, please, please, please, leave me some feedback. I literally eat that stuff up! Don't you? Thanks so much, faithful followers! Have a great day!

Tag, you're it!

There's a fun game of tag going on so that we can all get to know each other a bit better. I was tagged by Becky, Susie, and Tanya, and I answered all 30 questions here.  Now it's my turn to tag 10 people.

Here Are The Rules:

* Post these rules

* Answer the 10 questions that the tagger posted for you

* Create 10 questions of your own to ask the people that you're about to tag

* Tag 10 people and link them with your post (and let them know they've been tagged!)

So…let’s get to know each other a little better, shall we?

Here are my 10 questions:

1. What grade do you teach?

2. Which is your favorite subject to plan?

3. What three words would your students use to describe you?

4. Have you ever had an embarrassing teaching moment? If so, what was it? 

5. What is your best teaching quality?

6. What are your plans for summer vacation?

7. Would you ever want to be a principal?

8. If you were not a teacher, what would you be?

9. Do many of the other teachers at your school have a teaching blog, like you?

10. Are you smarter than a fifth grader? LOL!

Here are the teachers I have chosen to tag:

Alessia @ Mrs. Albanese's Kindergarten

Cailtlin @ Kindergarten Smiles

Deedee Wills @ Mrs. Wills Kindergarten

Erin @ Eberhart's Explorers

Shuna@Pocket Full of Kinders

Kathy @ First Grade a la Carte

Marlana @ Lil' Country Kindergarten

Cheryl @ Primary Graffiti

Lory @ Lory's Page

Kerri @ Teacher Bits and Bobs

If any of the teachers I have chosen have already been tagged, please let me know. Thanks! I look forward to getting to know you all better.

I've been tagged!

Thank you, Becky, Susie, and Tanya, for tagging me! If you don't already follow their awesome blogs, I urge you to click on over there right now.

Now, I will attempt to answer all 30 questions!

Ms. T's questions were:

(BTW, I accidentally answered the same questions she received, but I am leaving them because it took me so long to answer them! Sorry! They were really good questions, though!)

1. If you could teach any grade, what would it be?

First Grade (Right now, I teach Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade)

2. What is the one thing you couldn't live without in your classroom?

My students! LOL!

 

3. What's one thing you need in your classroom?

A Smart Board would be great.

 

4. What's your favorite school lunch?

Peanut butter and Nutella on a cinnamon raisin bagel thin. Yummy!

5. Do you have a favorite tv show?

Flashpoint (I love all the crime shows!)

6. Do you have writers's block as a blogger sometimes?

I have the gift for gab, so, thus far, I have not been at a loss for words.

 

7. What talent would you like to be able to do?

I sing and draw all the time, but I'm not very good at either. I'd love to be as good at these two things as my students think I am!

 

8. Who's your favorite musician/group right now?

Celtic Thunder and the BeeGees

 

9. Best teaching moment ever?

I just won Teacher of the Year for my school, region, and then state. I was observed 3 separate times while teaching my first graders. We had so much fun showing off for the VIPs and bonded immensely during each of the observations.

 

10. Any funny sayings or happenings that happened in your class this week yet?

Oh my! On Thursday, I was model writing on the board for my first graders. I kept hearing some of them laugh while I was writing. I turned around and asked what was so funny. Then, they told me! Every time I bent down to write on the bottom of the board, my butt was going in the face of one of my students and he was trying really hard not to say anything because he knows not to speak when I am speaking. Poor kid! We had such a HEARTY laugh over this!

Here are my answers to Suzie's questions:

1.  What celebrity would you love to dine with? 

Brad Pitt!

2.  Lip gloss, lipstick, or chapstick?

Lip gloss...I reapply about 30 times a day. 

3.  Heels or flats?

I should be nicknamed the casual teacher. Flats 24/7.

4.  Favorite teacher gift you've been given? 

I just got a gift card to TpT for a lot of money! I am like a kid in a candy store!

5.  Favorite read aloud? 

Anything by Kevin Henkes

6.  The one item you can't live without that is in your classroom? My lap top.

7.  Pet peeve? 

I am a constant communicator with my students' parents. I get peeved when they don't read my emails and then email me asking me to tell them about what I just emailed them about.

8.  If you couldn't teach, what would be your career?

I would work with animal rescue.

9.  What are your plans for summer? 

Relax, vacation, and work on preparing for next school year.

10. Favorite non-teaching blog? 

Sadly, I only follow teaching blogs. Are there blogs out there that are not teacher related?  LOL!

Here are Tanya's questions:

1.  How long have you been teaching? 

17 years

2.  What’s your favorite subject to teach? 

Writing

3.  What’s your favorite season?  Reason? 

I love cold weather, so I'll say winter. I live in Florida, though, so the winters are very mild.

4.  Have you begun to count down to summer? 

Not yet, but I'm sure I will starting next week because there are no vacation days until Memorial Day weekend.

5.  How would your team mates describe you? 

Funny, flexible, and helpful

6.  What’s one of your pet peeves? 

When people are not funny, flexible, and helpful.

7.  What’s one thing that makes you “over the moon” happy? 

When my students are well behaved, on task, and respectful.

8.  Are you crafty?  Artsy Fartsy? 

I am crafty and artsy, but only when it is something I can make on the computer.

9.  Who is your favorite person? Anyone… 

My mom. She's incredibly strong and positive even when faced with adversity.

10.  How long have you been blogging? …and why?

I've been a blog stalker for about a year and I've had my own blog for a month. I love to read about what others are doing in their classrooms and get new ideas, as well as, share what I'm doing.

That was fun! I'll be back later with my list of questions and some people to tag! I hope you all enjoy your day!

Oceans of Fun for Kindergarten!

Next month, I'll be diving into my ocean unit and I've been working very hard on finishing up my common core aligned packet o'fun. Since I teach kindergarten, first grade, and second grade, I have three times the work to accomplish! I can now breathe a sigh of relief because I finally finished the kindergarten packet. It's jam packed with 12 literacy activities that I'm sure my students will enjoy. The first and second grade packets should be done in a day or two. In mid-May, I'll be observed by some VIPs from my charter school company, who will be deciding whether or not I am worthy of winning National Teacher of the Year. The lessons I teach on this day will come right from the first grade packet. Hopefully, they will notice that I created the activities myself and that will help me score some points! I wonder how many times I can work that into the conversation? LOL!

If you are interested in checking out my kindergarten ocean unit, please click on the preview below. If you purchase it, I would love to hear what you think. Thank you so much!

Plural or Possessive

Is it plural? Or is it possessive? My students have a hard time deciphering between the two. Once I introduce possessive nouns in first grade, I find that many of them add an apostrophe to just about any word that ends with an s. This is one of those skills that first and second graders, and probably third graders, too, simply cannot practice enough. I created an ocean themed game that will surely help my students, and, hopefully, yours, strengthen this skill. It comes with a game board, 24 question cards, and an answer key. Here's a little preview:

 If you purchase this game, and you like it, please leave me some feedback. I ALWAYS enjoy reading the sweet comments that you all write. Thank you!

Plural or Possessive

Is it plural? Or is it possessive? My students have a hard time deciphering between the two. Once I introduce possessive nouns in first grade, I find that many of them add an apostrophe to just about any word that ends with an s. This is one of those skills that first and second graders, and probably third graders, too, simply cannot practice enough. I created an ocean themed game that will surely help my students, and, hopefully, yours, strengthen this skill. It comes with a game board, 24 question cards, and an answer key. Here's a little preview:

 If you purchase this game, and you like it, please leave me some feedback. I ALWAYS enjoy reading the sweet comments that you all write. Thank you!

My Latest Scoot Game

Since I teach kindergarten, first grade, and second grade (not at the same time!) my kindergartners have been begging me to make a Scoot game for them to play. My first and second graders have been bragging to them about how much fun the game is. Well, I aim to please, so I created a game for them and for my first graders, too. It's my new Beginning Sounds Scoot. The children need to identify the first letter in each of the words. It looks like this:

If you are interested in purchasing this game, please click on the picture above to get more information. I have lots of other Scoot games, so feel free to check those out, as well. My students played it today and had such a good time. The game comes with directions if you don't know how to play. I would love to give the game to the first person to comment so I could get some feedback. I know you can't leave feedback at TpT, but if you would please let me know here on my blog what you think, I would really appreciate it. Thanks so much!

I also wanted to let you all know how I excited I am to be a guest blogger at Kindergarten Lifestyle! Next Thursday, on April 12, I'll be blogging all about my writing classes. I'm REALLY looking forward to it! Click below to visit this wonderful blog!