{Secret Admirer Blog Hop - The Elementary Entourage}

Hey y'all! I am back to share with you another fun blog hop from all of us over at The Elementary Entourage! We all participated in a secret admirer exchange, and I was lucky enough to receive this beautiful card from Kelsey over at Aloha in 2nd! This card made my day and is so fitting don't you think?! Thanks, Kelsey!!

In addition to this cute exchange among our bloggers, we also have freebies in store for you...just in time for Valentine's Day next week. If you are looking for a fun activity to do with your students during the week of Valentine's Day, then I have just the thing for you. This Math Scoot will have students engaged and actively learning! What more could we ask for? This scoot has a fun Valentine theme to fit right in with your other Valentine activities you already have planned. I hope you enjoy!

{Click on the link above to be taken to my TPT store and download}

Don't forget to check out the rest of our crew in the blog hop!

An InLinkz Link-up

{February Pinterest Pick 3 Linky!}

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I am back for more Pinterest lovin! Who doesn't love some PINspiration?! I cannot believe it has been a month already. Life has really gotten crazy after coming back from Christmas break. I promise to be better. Hopefully these pins help spark some inspiration for the month of February. I know they helped me!

We are up for accreditation at our school again this year. What better way to impress the panel than to create an out of this world bulletin board? My plan is to incorporate either Valentines or Black History Month on the board. I have included two pins for you here so you could go either way. The Crafty Morning has some awesome Valentines Day bulletin board ideas in the first pin. And who doesn't love The Classroom Creative?! If you choose to go the BHM route, then you will definitely find a board idea here. The sky's the limit! The creativity presented on some of these boards really goes beyond me! ;)

{Click on pic above to go to the Pinterest link}

{Click on the pic above to go o the Pinterest link}

Are you looking for content? No problem! These links below have some amazing content to fit right into February!

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{Click on the pic above to go to the Pinterest link}

{Click on the pic above to go to the Pinterest link}

If you are looking for something more crafty to do with your kiddos, then this next pin is for you. I am always looking for something inexpensive to do with my students. At the same time, I want each experience to be memorable. I think this does exactly that!

{Click on the pic above to go to the Pinterest link}

If you are like me, then you like to get the most bang for you buck when reading posts. I hope you were able to take something away today.

Follow Me and The Elementary Entourage on Pinterest for ideas and quick links to our newest products.

An InLinkz Link-up

Secret Santa Blog Hop {Merry Christmas!}

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I am always looking for ways to incorporate more writing into my day. You can ask any of my co-workers, though, writing is my absolute favorite subject to teach. The holidays provide so many different writing opportunities for our little sweeties. I read a book and automatically begin thinking of how I can extend the book into a writing assignment. For example, I used the template you will see below on two different days.

First, we have been learning about fairy tales, doing A LOT of comparing and contrasting, so it just made sense to try to write our own. When I taught Kindergarten I always started with a visual. It seemed to get those creative juices flowing. I would have my little kinders color a picture and then tell me about THEIR picture. Each would be uniquely written masterpieces when they were finished. This writing assignment was no different. We began by building a snowman (yes, it is okay if you just sang the Frozen song in your head...I did, too).

Next, we brought out the writing starter for A Snowy Tale. It begins like most fairy tales...Once upon a time. We discussed possibilities for their fairy tales. They were able to tell me that they should have a main character, a clear setting, a problem and a solution. My sweeties described the plot, paying careful attention to the beginning, middle, and end.

Because they were able to look at their snowman, the stories wrote themselves! I was walking around astounded and how much they were writing and how fast. Many had to use the back of the paper!!!

At the end of the week we began the second lesson, although it is not finished. We started by reading the story Snowmen at Night and then discussed snowmen activities at night. This was such a fun conversation! We brainstormed whole group on the SMART board and came up with different activities. I modeled a story where my snowman, Blizzard, constructed a game of checkers using other snowmen! They loved this activity. Again, the creative juices were flowing, and I was not pulling teeth to get an opinion writing sample before our break.

Sound like fun?! Well you are in luck because I have put all of this in a fun pack for you for FREE!!!! Merry Christmas to all of you! I wonder...how many Olaf's will you have in your class?

{Click the image above to download your freebie from my TPT store} Don't forget to provide feedback and follow me on TPT!

Don't forget to check out all my other friends in the blog hop!

An InLinkz Link-up