Liebster Blog Award

Hey everyone! I had an awesome Thanksgiving.  My only complaint is that there was not enough room in my stomach for all the yummy food and also I wanted more of a break!  I was nominated for The Liebster Award thanks to Jessica over at I {heart} Recess. The award is for newer bloggers who have less than 200 followers.  It will help me spread the word about my blog and help me get connected to new bloggers like me!

The Rules:

1. You must post 11 random things about yourself.

2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.

3. Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate.

4. Choose 11 blogs you love (with less than 200 followers) and a link them in your post.

5. No tag back (but please leave me a comment on this post with the URL to you Liebster post so I can learn more about you)

 Random Facts About Me:

1. My kitchen has an apple theme.

2. I have owned more than a dozen cats (apparently they don't have nine lives)

3. My parents thought about naming me Bevelin.

4. I want to have six children and most people think I am crazy.

5. I love to scrapbook but don't have the time.

6. I love to try new recipes.

7. I hate eating leftovers.

8. I wish all first graders believed in Santa...December would be easier to get through that way.

9. My pet peeve is people who don't listen but I am not a good listener myself...I am working on that.

10. I enjoy James Bond movies more than your average chick flick.

11. I used to read more than I slept when I was 9 and 10 years old.

Questions by I {heart} Recess (Jessica)

1.  What is your dream job (other than teaching)?

Being a stay at home mom!  I will be someday! 

2.  What is one thing you wish you were better at?

 I so wish I was better at lesson planning.

3.  Do you have a hidden talent?  If so, explain.

I think my hidden talent (also a downfall in some cases) is finding the good in every single person/ student.

 4.  Do you have a TpT store? If yes, post the link :)

 My TpT Store :)

 5.  What do you fear?

Wide, open, dark spaces and fish

 6.  What is your favorite holiday tradition?

My husband's family (the whole family) has a white elephant gift exchange every year at Christmas time.  I LOVE attending and it is so much fun! 

7.  Who do you admire most and why?

I admire my dad because he works so hard and had has to change his teaching job dramatically but he never complains.  He always makes it the best for him and others. 

8.  What is your favorite subject or unit to teach?

I love teaching math!  I also love teaching or connecting teaching to anything that has to do with any holiday/ season.

 9.  How many students do you have in your class?

27 little firsties

 10.  Where is your favorite place to shop?

Target

11.  Who is your celebrity crush?

Orlando Bloom, Kyle Chandler, Daniel Craig

Questions to my Nominations:

1. What is your ideal class size?

2. How do you plan at your school...by yourself, with a team, ect.?

3. Do you watch movies with your students? If so, which ones?

4. What rewards do you provide for your students?

5.  What is your favorite thing about teaching/ being a teacher?

6. What technology do you find most useful in your classroom?

7. What do you wish you had more time for?

8. Where do you do most of your holiday shopping?

9. What is your favorite time of year to teach?

10. If you could pick one popular blog (with more than 1000 followers) which one is your favorite to read?

11. What provides you with the most comic relief?

Blogs I am nominating:

NO ONE! I looked for the better part of an hour and every blog I found (lots of cute new blogs) had already been nominated.  I worked on my questions before I realized I had no one to nominate so if you have read this whole post...thank you very much and please answer one question in a comment below.  I promise I'm not being lazy and to prove it I'll be back later this week with new products and hopefully a freebie in my TpT store.  Thanks for the blog love!  Apple on!

Turkey Feathers Freebie

My firsties did this cute little project today.  

We have been working on identifying beginning, middle and ending sounds of a single syllable word (phew...that's one long objective!). I made six different pages of feathers...mostly so my students wouldn't copy off each other.  It takes more time but I really know who knows their stuff!  The body is half of a paper plate.  I apologize that I can't share the cute little turkey head/feet...I have had it for a few years and it is not my original work but I am happy to give you the feathers for free.

Click here to get your feathers!

 I can't believe that Thanksgiving weekend is TWO WEEKS AWAY.  This year is flying by.  I am happy that it is but at the same time I would like it to slow down just a little. I should really blog on other days besides Friday. I love sharing my Friday freebies...it''s kind of therapeutic to know I might be helping another exhausted, hard working teacher like myself!  Apple on!

 

November Currently and TBA Friday Freebie

Happy November!  Did anyone else have sugar coma kids in their class for the past two days?  You know, the kind of kids that when you are directly instructing them they completely ignore you or stared at you blankly with unfocused eyes.  Or did you have the kind of kids that were the exact opposite...getting up constantly, taking constantly, bouncing for no apparent reason except to bounce.  We had fun dressing up for spirit week this week but I am definitely looking forward to a regular week with no costumes or sugar coma kids in my classroom! I'm linking up with Farley and I think her November currently is just gorgeous! Please forgive me...mine is fuzzy...I'm still learning how to work with some of this blog stuff.

On Wednesday (Halloween-don't mind their weird outfits :) I taught my students the relationship between addition and subtraction facts using a part part whole diagram and candy corn!  They were highly motivated for the candy!  We used compartment plates that are separated into three sections…part part are the two smaller sections and whole is the larger section. Here are some pictures of our diagrams in action...

My freebie is a worksheet that I had my students use to show how they use the part part whole diagram to represent related addition and subtraction facts.  Click on the picture to snag yours. Enjoy!

Apple on!

 

Two Weeks and a Digraph Blending Power Point

The past two weeks have flown by and have been so busy.  At the beginning of those two weeks I got a "Hoover" of a kid in my room (refer to Heather's post here to see what I mean) and OH BOY is this kid a HOOVER!  Last week I had parent teacher conferences and I had to introduce a NEW report card to the parents.  It has been super stressful over here!  Tomorrow morning I have a formal observation and I am happy to say I am prepared!  I think my kiddos will do well and will show off how smart they are but I can't wait for this observation to be over!

I have finally finished the "Blending Words with Digraphs" power point.  Click on any of the screen shots below and it will take you to this product in my store! Here's how I use it in my classroom...

At the click of a button the sounds change colors from left to right and your students will blend as the colors change.  Then an arrow comes across for your students to say the whole word.  To introduce your students to a variety of words with digraphs I have included the digraphs at the beginning and at the end of the word (example below...ship...bash). Finally there are some sentences made with the same digraph words for your students to read.

Apple on!  Here's to tomorrow morning being over soon!!!

Friday Freebie

I talked about a digraph power point earlier in the week but these assessments that I am giving my kiddos have just about knocked me out.  I hope to get it up and running soon!  For now...I have a freebie for you to enjoy!

Brought to you with the help of Teaching Blog Addict! 

Do your students need to practice place value for the numbers 1 to 30?   This week's freebie will help them do just that!  These game cards feature a target number for your students to bundle to.  For each pair of students you will need 30 sticks, 3 rubber bands, target number cards (#10 to #30), and one die (I hate saying it like this...anyone else agree?!).

Directions for Target Number Bundling Game Cards

1. Turn over a target number card

2. One partner rolls the die and pulls out that number of sticks (or whatever object that can be bundled)

3. Then the next partner rolls the die and pull out that number of sticks

4. The game continues until the partners reach the target number together


NOTE: As the number of sticks piles up encourage the students to make a bundle or a group of ten (while also having left over ones) and describe the numbers to each other...I tell my students to say "We made 14 that is 1 group of ten and 4 ones."

Happy Friday and have a great weekend everyone! Apple on!

Currently

I'm linking up with Farley!  A big thank you to her for helping me figure out how to use her adorable template.  I tried and tried to figure it out but alas I had to send her an email asking for help...Thanks Farely!!!

The Ugly Pumpkin is soooo adorable!  I'm not even going to tell you what it's about...you HAVE to read it! Apple on!

Anchor Charts and What to do with those OLD Scholastic Book Orders?!

Where have I been for over a week?!  These days have been FLYING by.  I can't believe it's already October and that parent/ teacher conferences (eek.) are in two weeks. We have been busy, busy in the classroom.  I was inspired by many a blog post to create more anchor charts/ posters for my students to refer to for all the different skills and subjects we are learning.  Here are some pictures!

 

 Our Math Tools and Addition Strategies

 The writing process...prewrite/ plan, draft, revise, edit, final/ publish, and present.  We have actions to go along with the charts :)  psssst...the fun actions make up for some UUUGGGGGLLLYY hand draw pictures (by yours truly).

Telling the differences between books that tell a story or books that give information...

Do you happen to have any of those Scholastic book orders lying around just dying to be used?  Well now is your chance to use them up!
 

Click here to see this product in my store!

 

Old Scholastic book orders are NOT included.  Go grab your extra orders and have your students cut them up!  My students loved getting to browse through the books while completing the activity and I also sent home another copy of this exact book order with them that day so they could beg ask their parents for a book!

I will be back later this week with a digraph powerpoint.  I made it through last week so there is a chance I'll make it through this one too!  Apple on!