TPT Seller Challenge Week 1: Makeover Madness!

I've joined up with a large group of teachers and TPT sellers to work on challenging ourselves and improving our craft during the summer months. 

Week One challenge is to make over a product already in my store.  I was THRILLED about this challenge, because I have had this very thing on my to-do list for months (maybe since last summer???) and have never taken the time to sit down and do it.  

I especially wanted to update my Winter Write the Room set.  It's been my biggest seller, and it has needed a fresh look for too long.  It was one of the first products I made, and it was in desperate need of some love!

I updated the fonts and clip art and started from scratch with a new cover.  I have learned so much since originally making this way back when, and it felt so good to change it up for the better!

Click the AFTER graphic or CLICK HERE to head over to check it out in my TPT store.  I know that winter is a long way off (thank goodness for that!), but I'll have it on sale through the end of the week in case you want to plan ahead for next school year.  Or, if you already have it, go back and download the revised version!

Head on over to Third in Hollywood to check out the other sellers in the linky!

Gingerbread Man Write the Room {Giveaway!}

Hi hi!!  I posted a new Write the Room activity to my TPT store last night....just in time to use it in December!  

I LOVE reading all the different variations of The Gingerbread Man with my class in December.  It's one of my favorite stories of the entire school year -- probably because my students always love it so much too!

This activity would be a perfect addition to your December literacy stations...or maybe for a word work or vocabulary center.

Head on over to my Facebook page for a chance to win!  I'll choose a winner this afternoon, so act quickly! :)

CLICK HERE TO HEAD OVER TO MY FACEBOOK PAGE

Five for Friday {November 7}

I'm a day late, but I'm linking up with Kacey for Five for Friday!

1. November means these adorable directed drawing scarecrows which I LOVE.  

CLICK HERE to read last year's scarecrow post for more information on these cuties!

2. We have been working hard during writer's workshop!  This week, we celebrated 16 minutes of stamina two days in a row!  The kids are doing a great job taking my specific feedback and putting it into their writing.  

This little guy is working on organizing his work and remembering to add details, details, details!

 This sweetie is stretching herself to go beyond just labeling her drawings.  She is ready for sentences and did such a great job this week!

I just LOVE watching budding writers!!

 3. Last week we made this awesome story map for our Reading Street story, Armadillo's Orange.

4. We began Math Work Stations this week.  Finally!  I just kept putting it off this year because other things filled the time and it seemed overwhelming to start.  BUT, since we run them exactly like our Literacy Work Stations, the students knew exactly what to do and they ran so smoothly this week!

These Fall Counting Mats are free in my TPT store.  Click HERE to check them out!

5.  I implemented "Learning Partners" by mistake a few weeks ago ;), and it has been awesome!  I randomly paired students up for an activity, and the pairings ended up being so perfectly matched that I decided to keep these pairings and call them Learning Partners!  Anytime we have a partner activity to do, the students find their Learning Partner and off they go!  So easy and makes our transitions so much calmer and quicker.  A happy accident!

I overslept by an hour yesterday morning.  I know you can relate....isn't it a terrible feeling to realize you've woken up late??!?  Thankfully, for me, waking up an hour later than normal still means I'm up at 5:50. #earlyriserperks

I saw this quote and it made me laugh.  So, so true! Ha!

Any other early risers out there????

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!!!

Scoop It! {Beginning Sounds Activity}

I'm always looking for new, engaging ways to practice phonics skills with my Kindergarten students.  I love having lots (lots and lots!!) of resources to pull from when I need to introduce or practice a specific skill.  You can never have too many because you just never know what activity will become a favorite for each individual child.

With this in mind, I began creating a new beginning sound activity this week.  I was inspired by the adorable ice cream cone clip art by Creative Clips!  I thought of a million ways I could use it, but since beginning sound practice comes so early in the year, I decided to start with that first.

This activity contains 26 practice sets, one for each letter of the alphabet.  Each letter set has a cone and 8 ice cream scoops.  Your students will stack the scoops with the matching beginning sounds onto the ice cream cone, distinguishing between pictures that begin with the correct sound and those that don't.

 My littlest one is going into Kindergarten this year, so I tested it out on her.  She couldn't wait to get her hands on these ice cream scoops!  

I just love hands-on learning that is motivating and fun!

Use this activity for teacher-guided practice or independent review!  I included a recording sheet as well, making it perfect as a literacy station activity.

CLICK HERE to visit this item in my TPT store.  It is 50% off through the weekend only!  Grab it by tomorrow night for only $1.50!  

Enjoy your weekend, friends!

TPT Back to School SALE!!

It's almost time!!
Tomorrow and Tuesday, TPT will be holding it's back to school sale!

Many stores, including mine, will be 20% off...plus, if you enter the code BTS14, you'll get an additional 10% off.  This is one of my very favorite times to shop TPT.  I just love dreaming about the new year and stocking up on resources to use with my new crop of kindies!

I uploaded a new Write the Room product tonight as well.  The clip art for this one is absolutely some of my very favorite ever.  Seriously....just LOOK at that caterpillar!  Too cute for words!

Click the image to check it out!

I have a FULL wish list and can't wait to grab some new resources tomorrow!  Happy shopping!!

Five for Friday {July 25}

It's time for Five for Friday!

My week was all sorts of summer fun....with a little bit of work tucked in.   

1. I make my own laundry soap.  I found a "recipe" a few years ago, and the whole concept intrigued me enough to try it.  I've been making my own ever since.  This is a double batch and will last me between 4 and 6 months.

I'll be talking more about it on Monday for Monday Made It.  Come back then if you'd like more info!

2.  This week I had THREE lazy beach/pool/relax with friends days.  AWESOME.  Two of them at friends' cottages and one of them at Lake Michigan.  Here are some pics from the first one.  This is how I spent Monday.  Summer fun with my kids is one of the best things in the world.

I EVEN worked up the courage to do THIS!  I am not much of a water lover.  I'd rather be on the beach than in the water, but this looked like too much fun.  And it was.  At one point, my son (the adventure-seeker) said "I can tell we're going sooooo fast.  Good job mom!".  Bless him.  We were going 14 MPH.  

I did pick up speed after getting comfortable. :) So much fun.

 3. A little bit of school work.  All in moderation in the summer!  Cutting out these adorable stitched stars for my door display this year!  Next step...add my little superstars' names and laminate them!

4. This is FREE in my TPT store.  I posted about it yesterday.  Go snag it if your word wall needs a fresh look!

5. So, you know how I'm on Facebook now???  Well, I'm still trying to figure it all out.  I've spent too much time this week trying to set up a Fan Freebie app on my page.  I *think* I've got it now (fingers crossed), although I haven't actually tried adding a freebie yet, so I guess time will tell!  Ha!  Hoping to get something added there next week....I'll let you know so that you can go get it!

Carrie and Danielle were both so patient and helpful and answered so many questions for me.  Thanks a million, girls!

I'm headed to Chicago for the weekend and can't wait!  See you back here next week, friends!

Word Wall FREEBIE

Hey hey friends!

It's nearing the end of July, and I can hardly believe it.  I CAN believe it, because summer goes by this quickly every year, but still.  Waaaahhhhh!

BUT....even though I love summer so much, I also love teaching so much.  I've been doing a teensy weensy bit of back to school prep to keep my teacher-brain happy!

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I am freshening up my word wall this summer.  I actually love my word wall -- it's bright, cheery, and super functional -- but the letters had gotten really faded since I put it up two years ago, so it needed a re-do.  I'm not changing anything about it...I'm just re-making what I had before.  

When it works, it works!  

In case your word wall is in need of a fresh look too, I just uploaded this FREEBIE to my TPT store!

I love how student-friendly the lined letters are.  So clean and easy to read.  Go grab it!! 

I have more summer fun planned for today -- a play date at the beach!  Yes, please!! 

Happy Thursday!! 

200+ Follower GIVEAWAY!

Hi, friends!  A while back I reached an exciting milestone with 200 followers on my blog!  I have had the most fun sharing about my classroom here and getting to know so many talented, creative, energetic teachers!  Your love of teaching and your heart for your students inspires me and I want to say THANK YOU!  I had planned to do a giveaway to celebrate right away, but it was the end of the school year and I was just too busy!!  Since then, I've gained a few more followers, so let's just call this a 200+ giveaway!!  Ha!

I'm so thankful for each of you that stop by to read, share, and comment.  I love posting here and connecting with all of you.

AND....I'm finally on Facebook!!  I know that this will be another super fun and easy way to connect with so many great teachers and I'm very excited about it!  I'd love for you to connect with me there as well!

I recently finished my short vowel CVC Write the Room packs and bundled them into a set!  I'd love to give one away to one of my faithful followers!

Sign up to win using the Rafflecopter!  The giveaway will run for a week, and I'll pick a winner next Sunday.  Have an awesome week!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Christmas Break, snow days, and some new products...

Well.  My oh my.  The arctic blast has hit West Michigan.  The local meteorologists are calling it a "Polar Vortex".  No school today because the wind chills are near -20.  As in a negative.  And a twenty.  It's cold.  COLD!!  School has already been cancelled for tomorrow.  Our last day of school before Break was cancelled too, so tomorrow will be day 19.

Aaannnddd....my house has been cleaned from top to bottom more than once since December 19th.  Of course, today, we had a morning of crafts and glue and paper scraps and paint, so no one can tell that I have cleaned the house from top to bottom.  But my cleaning energy is all used up, so there will be no more cleaning!  At least not until tomorrow.  By tomorrow it will surely have driven me crazy enough that I will have to clean it.  If I'm going to be forced to stay inside my home for days and days on end, it can't be a pigsty.  That's all.

Anyway, I worked on some new TPT products over the weekend and am excited about using these new Write the Room activity packs with my students.  I'm working through some CVC short vowel sets, and finished A, E, and I.  Maybe tomorrow I'll get around to the others?  Or maybe I should lesson plan the rest of my week first???

I like these because the CVC words are perfect for most of my students' reading levels right now.  The graphics are by Ashley Hughes, and I like that some of the words she used aren't super common.  Like pep.  And rim.  My 6-year old was asking me what pep meant.  I love using Write the Rooms to introduce new vocabulary.

Click on any of the pictures to head over to check them out in my TPT store.

What is the weather like where you live?  And, if it's sunny and warm, can I come visit???? ;)

Reindeer Games {GIVEAWAY!!}

I hope you all had as much fun shopping during the TPT Cyber Monday sale as I did.  The majority of my purchases were clip art -- I can't help myself!!  Hopefully you were able to get stocked up on fun activities for December, but just in case you are still looking for more ways to add some Christmas cuteness to your days, I am going to give away one of my Reindeer Games packs.

It IS the season of giving, after all. :)

I'm loving these activities because they are easy, easy, easy.
Just print and go!

I'll pick the winner on Tuesday!

Merry Christmas!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cyber Monday Sale!!

Hi there, friends!

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet???  I have done lots of my shopping online over the past few days and now I'm just waiting for those boxes to get dropped by my front door!  I'm ready to get gifts wrapped and under the tree!

TPT is throwing their BIG Cyber Monday sale tomorrow and they are extending it through Tuesday!  All items in my store will be 20% off and TPT will add another 10% off with the code CYBER!!  Go fill your carts with awesome resources for your classroom!

Here are some fun Christmas and Winter items from my shop.  Click each image to check it out on TPT!