Erica Bohrer's First Grade

Five For Friday - May 24th and Hugs to Oklahoma

2013-05-23T22:38:00.001-04:00

Hi, everyone! First, I want to let everyone in Oklahoma know that I am thinking of you. My heart breaks for all the tragic loss of lives and for those who have had their homes and businesses destroyed. I did not get a chance to donate a product to the Teachers heart Oklahoma fundraiser, but I am happy to promote it. Please, click on the image below to check it out. Another way you can help is by donating directly to the Red Cross. As an animal lover, I am going to also suggest you donate to the Oklahoma Humane Society. Have you seen this video of the woman who finds her dog during the interview buried in the rubble? You will need tissues!

I am linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs again for Five for Friday! Here are five random things about my week.

1. Spring Exhibit was on Tuesday! It was muggy out and nothing would stick to the walls. My classroom aide and I had to resort to desperate measures: we hot glued those ants to the wall! Don't worry, the glue just peels off. Click on the pictures to check out the TpT products utilized.

Inside my classroom:

My door (This is a free AS IS download):

2. Other Spring Exhibit Projects:

Gel ant farms are the BEST! Read my horrific experience last year with a sand one!

I am so proud of their writing! I used some Scholastic Science Readers to model voice in informational writing. This kiddo nailed it with his polar bear informational writing. Not sure why he colored the bear blue and orange, but I am not going to complain!

This is the Original Me on the Map project, by Jennifer Bates. The Circle Map Project is genius!

3. I think I have found a replacement for my destroyed polka dot storage cubes:

They are $17 dollars each, then I used my Red Card and got 5% off. I ordered Scotchgard from Amazon for them!

4. I have a few new products up:

Some teachers said that they needed really big word wall words to hang above closets and such. These are four to a page and include editable PDF pages.

I also made a little ladybug door decor. I really love making decor packets!

5. I love Very Jane and they "favorited" this photo on Instagram. Hashtags are cool like that!

PS - You can add stuff to Instagram photos using various free photo apps, like Instaframe and Overgram.

Enjoy the weekend!

Visual Plans, What I Bought During the BIG TPT Sale, and Shape Centers

2013-05-19T22:23:00.001-04:00

This Plane and Solid Shape Math Centers and More! packet just kept growing and growing! So glad it is finally finished. My students are having a blast with these math centers and learning at the same time. I am so proud of them, they are using words like "vertices" and "two-dimensional." Click the image above to check out the packet on TpT.

Construction Center - Working with their "construction crew," the students combine shapes to create a structure. Then they record the solid shapes they used to create the structure and draw a picture.

Toothpick Shapes - The students use toothpicks and marshmallows to build shapes. They use my plane shape posters as a guide. They then place a tag on their toothpick shape and label what the shape is, how many vertices it has, and how many sides.

We do not end school until June 21st with students, so I am still very much in school mode. This week is our spring exhibit and I am cramming in Ant projects! Here are my plans for the week:

*This plan book format is called "Erica." Click here to check it out in Ms. M's A Teacher's Plan Store.

**My visual plans are inspired by DeeDee Wills' visual plans.

Now, on to my Big TpT Sale Purchases!!

I am finally linking up to my post over at Blog Hoppin'. I am so not a blogging super star and struggle with blogging on three separate blogs! Yet, I would love to start a "shoes/shopping/pets/home blog." I think I just like making more work for myself!

Here are some of my awesome finds. Just click on the pictures to check them out on TpT!

I purchased this product last year and I am so excited because Alisha updated it. So cute!!

I went graphics crazy and bought a ton!

Final Hours of a the Sale and a Brand New Product!

2013-05-08T21:26:00.000-04:00

I just finished this editable End of the Year Memory Book. So, now I have two versions in my store for you to choose from. The version above is made with almost all Melonheadz clipart. I spent a small fortune :)

The version below includes inspirational quotes to go with each page. It comes with both color and B&W versions of the pages.

These are two separate packets. I suggest examining the preview images before you purchase. There are no exchanges :)

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Don't forget to take advantage of the last few hours of the sale!!!

The Big Sale is Here - Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

2013-05-06T22:28:00.002-04:00

The Big Sale is Here!!!

Time to stock up and get all that you can at this amazing deal of 28%! I am offering 20% off in my store and TpT is offering 10% off if you use coupon code TAD13!

I have started to categorize the items in my store with custom categories, so that they are easier to find!

All my decor packets are now under this Classroom Decor tab! Now is the perfect time to be thinking about decorating your classroom for next year and getting yourself more organized. For inspiration on decor, check out this "much pinned" post.

Get yourself organized on the student level with these Back to School Organizational Forms and More!

Or start planning ahead and locating books for units such as my humongous Letter Writing Unit and my Common Core Gingerbread Man Unit.

I have 150 items in my store! I know you will find something that fits your needs. If you need to get your cart up to $3, I have many Search/Read/Write the Room Centers for only $1 each.

Happy Shopping!

My friend DeeDee shared her plan of attach and I think it is great advice and worth sharing again. Thanks DeeDee!

Plan of Attach:

1. Look at my past purchases. Have I left feedback on these? I love those points! Sometimes the TpT system slows down on big sale days, so I want to get those feedbacks in! I want to rack-up those beautiful points and turn them into purchasing power! I am freely admitting that I don't NEED anymore clip art... but I always WANT more clip art!

This is also a great time to go back to those sellers and see what other treasures they have in their store.

2. I move my items from my "Wishlist" over to my "Cart." Seriously, I have this mental image of a puma ready to pounce on its prey.

3. Think ahead... As I think about my classroom instruction, what things will I want to implement for next year. This is a great time to be reflective!

It is easier to "Keep Calm and Shop On" when you have a plan!

The Big TpT SALE - Early Bird Special

2013-05-06T07:29:00.004-04:00

By now you have heard about THE sale of the year!

If you cannot wait, you can get a 20% discount on EVERYTHING in my store starting today!

TpT's sale officially starts on Tuesday.

My friend DeeDee shared her plan of attach and I think it is great advice. Thanks DeeDee!

Plan of Attach:

This is also a great time to go back to those sellers and see what other treasures they have in their store.

2. I move my items from my "Wishlist" over to my "Cart." Seriously, I have this mental image of a puma ready to pounce on its prey.

3. Think ahead... As I think about my classroom instruction, what things will I want to implement for next year. This is a great time to be reflective!

It is easier to "Keep Calm and Shop On" when you have a plan!

Evidence Binder Completed!!

2013-05-04T22:51:00.001-04:00

I have finally finished my evidence binder! I worked so hard on it, that I decided to tweak it and make it a packet to sell. Why should you have to reinvent the wheel and make your own dividers, if I already did? BTW, I think I bought used just about every Melonheadz clip art set there is involving school or children. I think it is an awesome looking packet - if I do say so myself!

If you don't know what an evidence binder is, be glad! Just kidding...well not really. The evidence binder is part of APPR, a teacher evaluation system adapted by NY State and probably a lot of other states. Our district chose the Danielson Framework for Teaching. Teachers are assessed based on a point system and the evidence binder is part of that point system. I am no expert on the Framework or APPR. I really just do what I need to do. The evidence binder itself is supposed to include "evidence" that you were a "highly effective" teacher. There are four domains: Domain One - Planning and Preparation, Domain Two - The Classroom Environment, Domain Three - Instruction, and Domain Four - Reflecting on Teaching. Each domain has subcategories. Each district has different requirements for what exactly goes into their teachers' evidence binders.

In this packet, I included dividers for the four domains, dividers for the sub-categories, an editable binder cover, binder spine inserts, evidence logs, editable evidence logs, and samples from my evidence binder with links for the evidence I utilized.

Click the image below to check out this packet on TpT:

Here is a sample of one piece of evidence and the evidence log:

I have been reading some of the comments on this post and I totally agree that this was a waste of my valuable time. It took me forever to finish. It is a nice way for our administrators to see what we are doing in our room, but on the other hand, the administrators would have more time to come into our rooms or walk around the building if they did not have to spend hours writing up observations. The new observation format is crazy! It makes me never want to be an administrator.

A Peek at a Mish Mosh of a Week - April 29th

2013-04-28T15:19:00.002-04:00

I made another Search/Read/Write the Room Center for this Week. I have gotten some sweet feedback to keep them coming, so I will. This one focuses on Short and Long O.

Here are my visual plans for the week. There really isn't a nice theme going on unless, I throw it all under the umbrella of Spring and somehow there are octopus swimming in the ocean. That works! Right?

I am still working on my Evidence Binder and since it is due this week, it is taking priority. The Evidence Binder is part of our APPR, a new teacher evaluation system being implemented in NY State. I will share the evidence binder as soon as I get it done...of course I had to make it look pretty.

*This plan book format is called "Erica." Click here to check it out in Ms. M's A Teacher's Plan Store.

**My visual plans are inspired by DeeDee Wills' visual plans. I am linking up with her again this week.

Here is a twist on Silly Sentences: Silly Rhymes. I shared my love of Silly Sentences in this post. Now, I have created a free recording sheet to go with Silly Rhymes. It is attached to my visual plans. Just click the plans or the sheets to download.

Here are some new units I am utilizing this week:

We are creating our Entomologist Glyph books this week, so that next week we can create our entomologists. The packet below is included in my Ants packet or you can purchase it separately by clicking below.

Spring and Buggy packets from some fabulous friends:

I am also linking up with my friends at What the Teacher Wants! and Apples and ABC's:

Hop over to one of their blogs to read about it. They are way better at explaining it than I am!

Here is my Instagram: EricaBohrerTeaching

You can also follow online, not just on your app.

I totally did not know that until I read, Michelle's of Fabulous in First's post! So cool. Thanks Michelle!

I hope you will follow me.

Have a great week!

Five for Friday - April 26th

2013-04-26T21:18:00.000-04:00

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share five random things about my week.

1. It's that time of year, things are breaking and just a mess:

2. My Scholastic book 20 Super Spelling Centers is available in May's SeeSaw Catalog.

3. I helped my nephew with his letter Vv, Pre-K homework. I am so impressed with his coloring and he is so proud, that he is scrunching up his face in a cheesy smile!

4. I love reading the comments on pins of my posts, but I kind of feel like I am snooping. This one made me smile and laugh. I love the label and then the question! If only she saw it now with the headphone tangle and crushed seating.

5. I finally got around to adding custom categories to my TpT store.

I also finished updating this file. It took forever because the font needed to be adjusted for every word! Plus, adding the editable text boxes got tricky. I love when I think something will take me like an hour and it ends up taking days! Don't you?

And I know I already shared five, but who can resist SHOES! I have to wear flats for a month because of an ankle injury that never healed right. I am desperate to find more flats!

From left to right: Audrey Brooke from DSW, Steve Madden from DSW, and Tory Burch from Bloomingdales

Happy Weekend!

To link up with Kacey, click below.

Mrs. Wishy-Washy

2013-04-22T18:08:00.001-04:00

The nice people at Hameray Publishing were kind enough to send me two Mrs. Wishy-Washy books to review. I am a huge Mrs. Wishy-Washy fan, so I was so excited to get the two books in the mail.

The first book, Mrs. Wishy-Washy and the Big Wash, is included in the "Green Set" of "The Joy Cowley Collection." This book is a level I. I really liked how the catalog listed the guided reading level and how the books all have a teacher guide on the inside back cover.

The second book, Wishy-Washy Clothes, is part of the "Joy Cowley Early Birds" book set and is a level F. Joy Cowley always does an excellent job of keeping her stories true to level with pictures appropriatly supporitng the texts. This book did not disappoint and the students found it funny!

If you are interested in entering an awesome Joy Cowley Classroom Giveaway, click the button below.

The giveaway that calls for teachers, parents, friends, relatives and anyone else who wants to nominate a classroom to possibly win 90 new titles from beloved author and Mrs. Wishy-Washy creator Joy Cowley: The Joy Cowley Collection and the Joy Cowley Early Birds! These two new collections of leveled readers, for Kindergarten to 2^nd Grade classrooms, are developed for shared, guided, and independent reading. Finger puppets and 3 audio CDs will also be included, comprising a value greater than $400! (This contest valid in the US and Canada only.)

You can find out more about Hameray Publishing, Mrs. Wishy-Washy, and other fun activities here:

www.Pinterest.com/Hameray

www.HamerayPublishing.com (To purchase use promo code ZJCC13 for 20% off purchase of anything on the website through 6/30/13

www.Facebook.com/Hameray

Thanks for stopping by!!!

“Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review. All opinions are my own and this is not a compensated post.”

Earth Day: Reusing in the Classroom and Visual Plans for the Week of April 22nd

2013-04-21T20:28:00.000-04:00

I use a lot of paper with my students and I feel really guilty about that. One way I have found to be a little more eco friendly is to save all larger scraps of paper. I do this by placing a little garbage pail in the art center and telling the kids to put their bigger unused scraps of paper in there. Then at the end of the center rotation, the scraps get placed in one of my storage cube seats.

I also urge my students how to fit as many tracers as possible on a piece of paper. My aide actually came up with a great idea: She puts a sample of how to fit all the tracers on the sheet of paper up in the art center. So let's say, the students are making a groundhog and they need to use all brown. She will take all the tracers that need to go on brown and trace them on a sheet of brown paper showing the students how to arrange them. The visual really helps them! For little things, I try and pre-trim paper so that the students will use the least amount possible when tracing or I have them find a scrap from the scrap paper bin.

What do I do with all those scraps? The scraps work great for torn paper projects, like the ones below. I will save the paper from year to year, if I know I will be using it for a specific project.

(This is from My Seed To Plant Project Packet.)

I even save scrapbook paper in a separate storage cube.

This little project was inspired by a project in Amy Lemons' I Can Measure Unit.

I am often putting words on my students' word rings. I usually use the other side of an old word ring word or I use the trimmed off paper from when I make my centers.

I hope all these ideas help you become a bit more eco-friendly in the classroom. Every little bit helps!

Here are my plans for the week.

*This plan book format is called "Erica." Click here to check it out in Ms. M's A Teacher's Plan Store.

**My visual plans are inspired by DeeDee Wills' visual plans. I am linking up with her again this week.

To check out some of last year's freebies from my "y and ie as long I" post, click here.

Earth Day Units I Am Utilizing This Week:

My new Earth Day Search/Read/Write the Room (it is only $1!):

Anna Brantley's Earthly Love Packet:

Adorable unit! She blogs about it here.

Lita Lita's The R's Rules! Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!

I love how easy this craft was to make and the varying levels of difficulty. The price was pretty awesome, too: $1.20!

Earth Day Freebies from A Cupcake for the Teacher:

Teri shares some really awesome anchor charts in this blog post. I plan to try and recreate them this week. Did you know that we have met a few times? She lives in NJ and we have met up in NYC! She is so sweet. I love that I get to connect with interesting and cool people through blogging!

My new, fellow New Yorker, blog friend, Anna of Simply Skilled in Second also has an Earth Day freebie and this really cool Earth Flip Flap book.

Thanks for stopping by! Tomorrow evening, I will have a contest up on my blog, so please stop back. Have a Happy Earth Day!

Owls, Plants, and Last Week's Plans

2013-04-20T20:42:00.000-04:00

I just finished a big 84 page Owl themed Literacy and Math Packet. It has editable pages and is Common Core Aligned! I am trying this new thing where I put the standards on the worksheets. Let me know what you think of that. My teammates suggested it and I thought it was a good idea. The reason my visual plans were not done last week is because I started by making a little Search/Read/Write the Room and then it just snowballed! Owls are just so cute! My students learned about "ow" and "ou" diphthongs and I thought owls tied in well. I ordered this book and I hope it is good, I not get to read it yet. Do you have any favorite owl themed books?

The art center above is included in the packet.

I made these posters probably 10 or 9 years ago! I have plans to make a packet of these and word family houses to sell...it is just on my never ending "To Do List."

On to plants!

I love Brain Pop Jr. and my kids love it, too. They love the music and they love how they always end with Moby doing something funny. We watched Parts of a Plant on Friday and Plant Life Cycle. Great, quick, and educational!

Here are a few read alouds utilized during the week.

Here are the plant packets I am using for my plant unit. I loved seeing the predictions my students had for the seeds they planted. A nice variety of predictions! We even joked around about how we definitely could not grow a bird or ladybug. The book How a Seed Grows says that it takes at least three days for a bean plant to grow. Three days past and no sprouts, so some kids deduced that we did not plant bean plants! I love when they make connections!

The unit on the left is by my friend, Lindsey, The Teacher Wife. My unit is on the right.

Here is a little freebie that I made. I like to hold all of the students' work for a theme unit in one folder. It just makes it easier to find and for them to catch up on work if they are pulled for services or absent. Also, if they finish work early they can decorate their folders. Click the image to download the page along with my plans for the week.

Here are my plans for last week! Sorry they are so late.

*This plan book format is called "Erica." Click here to check it out in Ms. M's A Teacher's Plan Store.

**My visual plans are inspired by DeeDee Wills' visual plans. I am linking up with her again this week.

Memorial Benefit and BUSY!

2013-04-14T17:46:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I won't be able to post my visual plans until later in the week. I had a busy weekend and have not had much time to sit.

I attended a benefit in memory of my friend Artie yesterday. I was an all day and into night event. Lots of our friends sent us with money to buy raffle tickets. I think we might have missed a few prizes, because we could not read the numbers fast enough to check! It was a fun night and a sad night at the same time. Oh, those bag pipe players get me every time! I was bawling!

My chevron shirt from Francesca's! It was on sale, too!

My friend Diana on the left, her husband was Artie's best friend, and my friend F-Bomb, AKA Karen on the right.

Is anyone else out there working on their "Evidence Binder?" I really need to get mine done, too! Of course it does not help that I feel the need to make it look pretty!

Check back later in the week and hopefully I will have my plans up! Thanks for stopping by.

Teachers Pay Teacher Purchasing Tips

2013-04-12T21:01:00.000-04:00

I am teaching an inservice class for my district and it came to my attention that some teachers did not know that you could re-download your purchases. Some teachers also don't know about TpT... SPREAD THE WORD, PEOPLE! Seriously, sign up for the newsletter (go all the way to the bottom of the page and there is a box to put your email in) and then forward the newsletter to your teacher friends. There are a plethora of great resources on TpT, plus so many freebies!

Here is a very simple little guide starting at the home page. Then, I show how to follow a seller and make a purchase. The second video talks about finding your purchases and redownloading updated files.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope this helped. If you have any other questions about TpT purchasing, let me know.

Visual Plans for the week of April 8th and Bears

2013-04-07T19:34:00.000-04:00

This week's story is Splash! It is about two bears waking up from their winter hibernation. I have a ton of bear stuff, so I decided to get all into the bear theme this week. It depends on whether or not I like the reading series story, if I decide to build my theme around it.

The first packet has been in my store since last year. I updated and added a few more things to the packet. The packet on the right is new and only $1 or you could grab the Bears!!! packet for $4 and it is included in that packet.

Here is a freebie from the Bears!!! packet:

Some other bear themed products:

This packet is by Rachelle Smith of What the Teacher Wants

On Friday we will be celebrating her "Teddy Bear Day."

Here are my visual plans for the week.

*This plan book format is called "Erica." Click here to check it out in Ms. M's A Teacher's Plan Store.

**My visual plans are inspired by DeeDee Wills' visual plans. I am linking up with her again this week.

I have been on Instagram for a little over a week.

Look for EricaBohrerTeaching to find and follow me!

Five For Friday - April 5th

2013-04-05T20:29:00.002-04:00

I am linking up with Kacey again for Five for Friday! Here are five random things about my week:

1. I feel like crud! I have a terrible cold. Last night, I stuck tissues up my nose just so I could go to sleep without nose-leakage! Gross

2. We are having some contraction fun this week with Cara Carroll's Crazy for Contraction Unit. I made her "Contraction Crocodile" into an art center. The kids loved it!

3. My students need to move. I have been creating more centers that allow them to walk around the room with clip boards. I am even starting to make math centers that way. The kids love them and I feel the movement helps them stay focused.

The above center is only $1 on TpT!

This center is not available yet. I am going to include it in an upcoming place value packet.

4. Do you remember that episode of Modern Family where Claire and her brother recreate a childhood photo for their dad's birthday or maybe it was Father's Day? Well, I thought that would be a cool thing to do for my mother's birthday! I found the same vintage birthday hats on Etsy. So, 29 years later...

5. I did my first video tutorial yesterday! If you want to hear my New York accent, go check it out :)

Have a great weekend!

Erica's "Tell it Like it Is" Blogging and TpT Tips: Technology

2013-04-04T20:12:00.002-04:00

There was such a positive reaction to my first "Tell It Like It Is" post a while back, that I decided to create another "Tip" themed post. First, I want to thank you for the positive comments. I was not trying to be "The Boss of the Applesauce" but I wanted to get some simple, blunt tips out there. I have been doing this a while and why make the same mistakes I did or waste your time if you don't have to!

In most of my "Tip" posts, I refer to googling for tips or tutorials. In this post, I am going to highlight some of the tutorials that I find most useful and give you a simple techie tip. Please note, that I am no tech expert, I learn best by watching and then doing.

Making Products for TpT

Merging PDF Files on Mac

The number one question I get asked is, "What program do you use to make your products in?" I use PowerPoint! In the past, I used Word and it was such a pain in the butt! I ended up switching to PowerPoint because I read a tip thread in the TpT forums about how PowerPoint was so much easier to make documents with. It really is! I have a Mac but I bought Microsoft Office for it and I think the combo is great. The only problem with PowerPoint is that you cannot change page orientation within one document. So, I make two separate documents and two separate pdf files. Here is how I combine PDF files using the PDF Preview program on Mac:

Here are a few of my favorite tutorials from other bloggers

I sign up to follow my favorite blogs via email as well as through the "follow me" buttons. I love the emails because I never miss a post. The emails are a bit delayed and don't come out the instant a post does, but I still get them!

If you have not used PowerPoint to create files, check out Ladybug's tutorial! I really have learned so much through following her blog. All of her tutorials are super useful! She is so sweet and we have been blogging friends since the very beginning. I cannot believe I had to ask her to make a tutorial about making categories on my blog! I had no idea how to get them to display. So thank you, Kristen!

Ashley Hughes is amazing! If you have a topic you want her to create a tutorial on, she will. She just did this post about aligning files in PowerPoint. I totally learned something! New or old blogger/sellers, you need to check in on her Technology Tuesdays. So helpful!

For more of my favorite Technology Tips,

check out my Pinterest Board.

*I have not read the marketing pins yet, but plan to do so on a rainy day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Visual Plans, a Freebie, and a Winner

2013-03-31T22:06:00.000-04:00

Sorry, that these are so late. It was a busy weekend. Anyway, here are my visual plans for the week. Click the pictures to download. I have attached the freebie to the plans.

*This plan book format is called "Erica." Click here to check it out in Ms. M's A Teacher's Plan Store.

**My visual plans are inspired by DeeDee Wills' visual plans. I am linking up with her again this week.

New for this week:

I created a Singular and Plural Words ending in -y and -ies Search/Read/Write the Room. The pictures match the words and a sorting/recording sheet is included.

I am using two packets by my friend, Cara Carroll:

I cannot wait! She is super talented.

Rachelle Smith's Desk Fairy Packet! Sorry, I forgot to add the picture to my visual plans.

Here is my freebie, it goes with DK Games: Silly Sentences. This center is a favorite of my students and I have had the puzzle Silly Sentences for years, so worth the $8.99!

Now for the 4,000 FB Facebook Fan Mega Winner:

Congratulations to Kelly Keifer Cappell!

My Spring Break is over...boo. Happy Spring break to those of you off this week. Thanks for stopping by!

Hunt for Egg-cellent Sellers & Five for Friday

2013-03-28T23:59:00.000-04:00

Here are my five for Friday:

1. Hunt through my store for my five favorite sellers, which are on sale until the 31st only!

Don't forget to enter my huge 4,000 FB fan Mega Giveaway!

2. So, I had these big plans for my week off and well...

Source: a dead end pin :(

3. I bought more shoes! The ones on the left are from Target and they were BOGO 1/2 off! The Sperry shoes on the right are from DSW. I love leopard print!!

4. My friends Abby and Kathleen tried bangs and I wanted to try them too! The problem: I have really thin hair. Solution: clip on bangs. I don't love them...but they are fun and look at today's US Weekly!

5. My dog, Sophie, was the dog of the day for The Daily Puppy! Someone on their fb fan page said..."not as cute as Whiskey." Um lady, I don't know who you are, but there are two definite things in life you don't make negative comments on photos of: babies and dogs!

I hope you had a more productive week than I did! Link up with Kacey over at Doodle Bugs below.

4,000 FB Follower Mega Giveaway!

2013-03-27T15:42:00.002-04:00

I am so excited and grateful to be able to host this Mega Giveaway! There are over 37 prizes from 36 amazing bloggers! I am so grateful to all my blogging friends and you, my wonderful fans. Thanks for helping me reach 4,000 plus followers on FB!

Click on the pictures to check out the products on TpT. While you are there, don't forget to follow the seller's stores :) Enter at the bottom using Rafflecopter.

Miss Kindergarten's Blog

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Easter Bunny Math Craftivity, Jellybean Freebies, and Jellybean Unit Sale

2013-03-25T21:35:00.000-04:00

I have gotten such positive feedback on my Leprechaun Math Craftivity, Mouse Cookie Graphtivity, Pirate Math Craftivity, and Ant Craftivity, that I decided to make an Easter Bunny Math Craftivity. Instead of make a whole Easter packet, I just created the craftivity with three levels of difficulty: counting, addition, and fact families. I hope you can use this activity with your students this week! Click on the pictures to check it out on TpT.

The fabulous fonts I used in this unit are by my friend, Michelle Oakes! You have to check them out.

On to the Jellybean Discounts!

I have slashed the price of my Jellybean math unit from $5 to $3. Check it out by clicking below.

Here are some photos from last year.

You can grab the jar labels for free here!

And here is another little freebie:

Thanks for stopping by!

My Seed to Plant Project and Sort of Visual Plans for the Week

2013-03-24T20:27:00.001-04:00

I am off next week for Spring Break. When we get back, I would like to start planning for our plant unit. I decided to revamp my My Seed to Plant Project packet. I added some crafts to go with read alouds and the "Seed to Plant Observation Log." Click below to check it out on TpT. Re-download if you purchased this packet last year!

For directions on how to make the newspaper seed cups, check out Garden of Eden's post here!

This donation letter can be free in my plans download :)

These two crafts are extension activities meant to be used after reading How Does Groundhog's Garden Grow by Lynne Cherry.

This sunflower craft is an extension activity to be used after reading Sunflower House by Eve Bunting or This is a Sunflower by Lola M. Schaefer.

On to my plans for the week...

As you can see, these are not my usual plans, but I did not want to leave you hanging. I also hope to hit the gym and meet up with friends. I just did not want to put it in writing and overcommit for my week of non-commitments.

BTW - I am no expert on DoJo but DeeDee inspired me to check it out. I think it will be good for the one credit course I am teaching.

You can click the plans to download and grab the freebie. Have a great week!

Hook up with DeeDee by clicking above.

Five for Friday - March 22

2013-03-22T21:46:00.000-04:00

I am linking up with Kacey of Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday again!

1. I have the guinea pigs for the week. The one in the front is Chrysanthemum and Daisy is hiding in her house. I became a fan of piggies with my first guinea pig, Molly. She lived 9 1/2 years and was the best guinea pig ever! These two...not so much. I think because they have each other, they are not as friendly towards people. They are cute and funny, though! Lately, they have been fighting over the bigger wood house in their cage at school. They screech at each other trying to get the other out. It is so loud it stops the class!

Their huge cage! Literbox and all! For more info on classroom pets, check out:

2. I have off all next week! I wish I could tell you all that I am going away somewhere fabulous and warm, but I am not. I am excited to sleep late :) My fur babies and I are big fans of sleeping in!

3. I am teaching a one credit in-service course starting in April. If you live on Long Island and are close enough, you are welcome to sign-up. I have taught a lot of courses for our teacher center over the years. The most recent NY state teacher certification requires that teachers take credit hours every year to maintain their certificate.

4. We shared our robot projects on Wednesday! They came out really cute. Click here for the post.

5. I don't watch a ton of tv, but I love Us Weekly. This magazine comes in the mail every Friday. I come home from work, put on sweatpants, hop into bed, and read it! The simple things make me happy. I tell myself Us Weekly is the classiest of the gossip magazines! I know People is pretty legit, but there is way too much reading involved. I love my Us Weekly because it is a mind break. I scan through the pictures and read the captions and then done...pass it on to Grandma Bohrer.

I do read books, too. I don't want you to think I am a lazy dummy! Haha.. I finished Gone Girl, Abducted, and Dead Weight recently. I loved Gone Girl and thought Abducted was good. Dead Weight was a free Kindle download, so I cannot complain.

Happy Friday! Hop over to Doodle Bugs to check out other links or to link up yourself.

Robot Pictures and a Winner!

2013-03-21T16:23:00.001-04:00

We shared our robot projects yesterday! The parents and the students had a great time. I think all the robots were adorable!

The directions for these projects are included in my Robots! Literacy Packet:

Thanks to all who entered my Letter Writing Unit Giveaway!

Here are the winners:

I will be sending you an email tonight of the file! Thanks for all who entered.

Robots and a Peek at My Week, March 18th

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This week, our reading story is My Robot by Eve Bunting. I revamped my old centers for the week and created some new ones. I compiled them along with some other great activities into this 70 page Robot packet! I have included two small freebies from the packet in with my visual plans. To check out the packet on TpT, click the picture above. *Please, note that if you have bought my old Robot packet (go to your purchases page) and you buy this new one, you can get a $2 item from my store as compensation. You will just need to leave feedback for both packets, so that I can verify your purchases.

We go all out and have the students create non-moving robots at home. They will bring the robots in this week and share with the parents. Above is a photo of last year's projects.

The phonic element for this week is "Soft C." Most of the activities in the packet focus on that phonic element. If "soft c" is not the phonic element you are focusing on, don't worry! The packet contains editable text boxes for you to add your own words. I am really excited about using my Adobe Pro and I hope you like that you can customize the file to meet your needs.

Here are my visual plans for the week:

*This plan book format is called "Erica." Click here to check it out in Ms. M's A Teacher's Plan Store.

**My visual plans are inspired by DeeDee Wills' visual plans. I am linking up with her again this week.

Here are the freebies from my Robot Packet. They go with the story My Robot by Eve Bunting.

The center above is called story unscramble. I posted about it a LONG LONG time ago, here.

For more info on literacy centers, click here.

New for this week:

My Robots! Packet

Abby's The Easter Bunny's Assistant: Companion Pack

(Click here to check out her recent post on it and the book is in March's SeeSaw!)

Made for 1st Grade's Gumball Math

Other news:

Wow! Thanks for all the love.

Don't forget to enter to win my Letter Writing Packet. You can enter each day by pinning :)

Letter Writing Unit: Teaching Letter Writing Through Picture Books

2013-03-16T12:51:00.000-04:00

I have finally finished revamping my Letter Writing Unit and it is now 120 pages long! It is Common Core Aligned for kindergarten, first, second, and third grade. I have added a ton more crafts and prettied up my letter writing papers. I have also added editable text boxes to some pages of the PDF (I caved and went and bought Adobe Pro).

I hope you check out the packet on TpT, just click the photo images. As always, feel free to pin anything in this post and scroll down for a mini-giveaway!

I have included to versions of the "Parts of a Friendly Letter" posters. One relating it to a person and another basic one. Both are also included as student versions.

These are my two favorite Tooth Fairy books: Dear Tooth Fairy by Alan Durant and You Think It's Easy Being the Tooth Fairy? by Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt

The adorable Tooth Fairy clip art is by Lita Lita and it is free! I asked her permission to make a craft inspired by it. I think they came out pretty cute!

This letter made me laugh!

I was observed using this lesson. Our district has adopted the Danielson Framework for observations. I have included my Common Core Aligned Formal Lesson plan and my Pre-Observartion Planning form in the packet.

Dear Mr. Blueberry is actually a book in our second grade reading series. I passed this activity on to them. I really love this book and how patient Mr. Blueberry is with Emily.

You all know I love my animals! This activity is a favorite of mine and great for voice! I start by reading Help Me, Mr. Mutt by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel. I follow up by reading other books which showcase "Cat vs. Dog" voice. Here are a few of my favorites: My Big Dog by Susan Stevens Crummel, and I am the Dog, I am the Cat by Donald Hall.

Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin is a great book for persuasive letter writing.

I utilize her follow up book, Giggle, Giggle Quack, to have the students write letters to a sub pretending they are the teacher. The result: ridiculous plans for the day!

Some other popular books utilized as mentor texts in this packet:

I Wanna Iguana and I Wanna New Room by Karen Kaufman Orloff
Toot and Puddle by Holly Hobbie
LaRue Across America: Postcards from the Vacation by Mark Teague
Dear World by Takayo Noda
Please Write Back! by Jennifer E. Morris

I have included a two page bibliography with many more books and links!

Now for the mini-giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway