{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

Secret Santa Blog Hop {Merry Christmas!}

{Click on the picture above for a direct link to the hop}

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

Wordless Wednesday {12.17.14}

{click on the picture above for a direct link}

I told you I was on top of things this week! Look at me getting on my exercising in, all my planning, all my products, and all my DIYing. I must be excited about my upcoming three weeks off. Gotta love that year-round schedule! :)

What do you do to increase and reinforce comprehension skills during the holidays? What do you do to relieve stress on the weekends?

Unwrap A Gift! A Linky Party!

 

{Click the picture above to be taken directly to the Linky Party!}

So I am sure as it nears Christmas you are sitting there on your couch with your eyes glassed over wondering how you will muster up enough energy to make it through the next two weeks of school before Christmas break. Am I right? Well if it is only me that feels this way I do apologize. Hehe!

As y'all know, I have recently started this little blogging journey and I am still getting the consistency down. I get better by the day and I am starting to get the hang of making products for TPT. So I have put together a little gift for you today that will help make the next two weeks a little easier.

Anything I can use in my small groups is a plus! I know many of you are looking for ways to simplify your planning for small groups. These pages may be just what you are looking for.

First, I need a schedule. I don't know about you, but I need to know who I am working with and what we will be focused on for the week. This sheet is a life saver at my table. Simple checkboxes and one or two words to describe what we are focused on. I meet with groups that are focused on similar skills and strategies to make planning easier.

This detailed lesson plan template comes in handy while I am meeting with those small groups. I can take notes, jot down any interventions, and plan out what I need to work on with certain students during our next meeting. Don't forget that academic vocabulary!!!

Pulling and tracking data is easy peasy with this progress monitoring sheet (technology is not nice to me right now...head over to the TPT store to get the freebie that is NOT digitized). I keep one of these for each student in a binder for both my READING and SMARTIES stations. I can monitor standards mastery with ease!

 And who doesn't love a good To-Do list??? Use this to make sure you have all your copies and resources in check for the week.

For this sweet little freebie, head on over to my TPT store and download. Happy Holidays y'all!!!

{Click the picture above to be taken directly to TPT to download the file}

Mixed-Up Monday {11.24.14}

Welcome to my first link up! I am so excited to be hosting a linky party on my little blog.

In teaching we have so many things that we juggle weekly, daily, or even by the minute. This linky party allows us all to come together and share things about teaching or life in general.

Today, I would like to share with you my newest products. Many of you know about my SMARTIES Math Stations and how hard I've worked on them. I understand eight stations is a lot to undertake in a classroom. Therefore, my dear sweet friend Alicia, suggested shortening the stations to five. I could just HUG her!!! This weekend I spent time condensing and organizing my four color options to bring SMART Math Stations to you. All four will be free until after my workout this morning, and they will remain on sale through Thanksgiving! How often can you snag a Math Workstation pack for only $2.00?! Here are some screenshots of what you will get in these amazing packs (all this an more of course):

{Click on the image above to be taken to my TPT store!}

Share your Mixed-Up Monday madness below!!!!

An InLinkz Link-up