Sunny Days in Second Grade

Common Core Essentials

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 03:22:00 +0000

I buy a ton of amazing resources from TpT. Seriously, I'd be lost without it, not even speaking just as a seller. But I've found myself running into the same problem over and over. I'll buy an awesome pack of activities that revolve around a particular theme, like a holiday or something seasonal, and then find that I can't use all of the activities because they don't really correlate to what I'm doing at the moment. This is more of a problem in math. I can't put out a center that has them working on telling time or geometry when I haven't taught it yet and then when I am teaching it later in the year I don't want to pull out a center with pumpkins all over it!

So to remedy that, I've started a new series of products called Common Core Essentials. Each pack has activities that are directly correlated to one single Common Core standard so you can be sure that you'll be able to use every piece of the pack when you're teaching that standard, whether it's November or May. They're meant to complement whichever math curriculum you're using, but they're not directly aligned with any certain series.

I have two finished so far and I'm hard at work on the rest. I'm a little obsessed...
I began with the NBT standards because that's what we usually start with. So here's a peek at the first two. Set one is for 2.NBT.1 (which is now technically 2.NBT.A1.1a, 1b, 1c <--no kidding! The standards are slightly renumbered, but more on that in a few days)

And here's a peek at the set for 2.NBT.2. A lot of the elements are similar, but there are a few differences to keep things fresh for you and for the kids, and because different skills just need to be approached and practiced differently.

You can find both in my store at tpt. 2.NBT.1 is HERE and 2.NBT.2 is HERE.

They're also both in my blog shop here as well.

My next set of EZ Prep centers is just about ready too. Pretty productive for my first week off! I'm such a nerd. I have always had a real love of creating my own teaching materials, long before my involvement with tpt, so spending my summer working on things like this is actually so much fun for me. I'm going to fit in some reading for pleasure, some relaxation, and some travel. We're actually headed to Texas next week for the big ISTE technology conference. Can't wait to see someplace besides Florida! I'm not the best flyer. It's actually been about 7 years since I was on a plane...but dang it, I'm going to get over this and enjoy this trip! See y'all soon!

Year End Wrap Up!

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:40:00 +0000

Welp, it's here. Summer! I'm not sure it's really settled in yet. I still feel like I'm firmly in teacher mode. What in the world is wrong with me? I am enjoying drinking my morning coffee from a real mug though. That's a real plus. I'm particular about my mugs. Currently I'm in love with my Bodum mugs from Crate & Barrel, they're super light and really keep the coffee hot longer than a regular mug. I'm also currently sporting nasty dragon lady fingernails because I'm long overdue for a fill and half of them are broken or chipped from packing my entire room and balancing it on a 20 inch countertop. Look familiar?

It was actually a little easier this year because I did a major clean-out and purge in the middle of the year. So anyway, before all this packing up, we had an eventful few days leading up to the end of a great year. I'll do it in pictures. I love seeing into other people's rooms, I'm nosey like that. I have a feeling you're a lot like me. So, let's start with the party. Our last day of school was Thursday, but we have a ginormous school so we all have our parties on different days. Ours was Monday. I like getting it over with and out of the way early. This year I decided to have it outside. We back up to a big, beautiful park and we normally only get to go there for 15 minutes every 3 days, so my kids were super excited to get out there for an hour and a half. It rained for about 5 days straight before the party, but my prayers were answered and on Monday morning the sun was shining. Yahoo!

We just set up some games all along the sidewalk and they played with whatever they darn well felt like playing with! No schedule or rotating or direction. And they loved it! The boys pretty much played kickball the entire time and the girls rotated around all the other games we had out for them. These kids are very active, so I knew that the outdoor party was the way to go for them. We do so many crafty things as part of our normal routine, so I wanted to just be able to let them play and go wild. And they did! And it was awesome. And I probably sweat (sweatted? swat?) enough to fill a gallon bucket. But it was worth it ~~not to have all that craziness in my room~~ because the kids had a blast.

Ok, so the first picture in this block above almost made me cry. I have these two cute little girls who would always belt out the Star Spangled Banner on the announcements into glue-stick microphones with this stance that they thought was very respectful, almost like they're waiting to start a race with one foot out in front of the other. Well, when they started on the last day of school, all of a sudden, the rest of the class spontaneously joined them! I grabbed my phone as soon as I saw it starting to snap a pic and I got the perfect shot! Check out the look on the face of the little one in green as she realized what was happening. Precious! Then next pic is the gift I gave my team. They seemed to really like them, even though I didn't cute it up with a printed tag or anything. And of course, no year is complete without shaving cream day! Yes, that's a pig. And it's pooping.

I've never done end of the year awards before, but I did this year. I looked and looked at different awards but couldn't really find ones that I felt fit my special little group of nuggets. Valerie from Georgia Grown Kinders even made a special award for the little girl who sang the National Anthem every morning. In the end I went with the Candy Awards from my buddy Reagan at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits. You can see from their faces - they freakin loved them!

Then we had our "box lunch". Just lunch in the room with boxes as tables, which for some reason is super exciting for them. And then we snuggled up and watched a bit of a movie together. We didn't have a ton of time since it was a half day and we still had more excitement to come!

During the last few minutes of the year on Thursday, we rolled out the red carpet for our principal who is moving to another school. She walked through the entire school and all the kids (all 1200 of them!) were lined up in the hallways to say good bye. I had the pleasure of having her son in my class, so it was definitely a little emotional to see him see his mom being treated like a rock star. Two of my girls had some extra large hands to wave good bye with. There's actually another fun tradition at my school that I didn't capture in a picture, called the Clap-Out. All of the kids in the main building line up in the halls and clap for the 5th graders as they leave our school for the last time. I saw a bunch of my former students at dismissal and was able to give them a hug as they left. Many, many tears. From them. Ok, and me too. I can't help it. I'm a mush-ball. (no picture of me crying. You're welcome)

Then after all that emotional craziness, the kids went home and we collected ourselves and finished packing up the room. On Friday we go in and file the cums, finish any loose ends and have our rooms checked and then we head to a luncheon. This one was fantastic! It was at a local Italian restaurant. Perfect venue, amazing food, lots of fun.

It's hard to believe that next year will be my 20th year in the classroom. I think there should be some type of special award for that. You know, something to keep my mind off how old I actually am to be able to say I've been teaching for 20 years. I kid. Kind of. But not really.

See more great ideas at this fun linky!

Everybody Wins!!

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 23:09:00 +0000

How cool is this? A giveaway where everybody wins! Some blog buddies have organized this amazing giveaway and I just had to join in - even though I'm all insane in the membrane right now with tomorrow being the last day of school. It's because I love you. I do. For real. Even a little more than the Swedish Fish I'm currently eating for dinner. But maybe not quite as much as the chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream I'll be having for dessert. But somewhere in the middle for sure. (Did I mention that I'm a stress eater?)

What will you get from all of these lovely ladies? Well, all of this fabulousness!

To receive the Swimming into Summer items, all you need to do is follow ALL of our blogs and come back and fill out our form. That's it! Everyone who enters will get amazing items from everyone listed above! So no finger-crossing, well-wishing, praying or buttering-up necessary. You enter - You win. Yay! I love simple. It's really about all I can handle at this point.

You can enter now through Sunday, June 9th. We'll start sending the bundle of product out on Monday, June 10th. You can go to each blog, by clicking on the buttons below.

Remember, all you need to do to get a present from each blogger above is to follow them and enter using this form. Following by email counts for me. That's how I follow my favorites so I never miss a post. And you don't need to fill out the form on each blog, just once on anyone's blog so we know where to send the goodies!

Why I'm an Instagram Fan

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 14:13:00 +0000

For a long while, I didn't really get Intagram. It kind of annoyed me actually. All I could think was who wanted a bunch of pictures that look like they were taken in 1978? I mean I have actual pictures that WERE taken in 1978 and they are nothing special! So I joined and...meh. I wasn't so impressed. It seemed like the same things I was seeing on Facebook; lots of selfies in bathrooms and cars, drinks I wish I was drinking, toes in the pool, toes in the sand, toes in front the ocean, toes getting a pedicure, toes in cute new sandals...where did this American foot fetish come from, anyway? So I kind of gave up on it.

Then after hearing how people were all in love with Instagram and the young un's were flocking to it and abandoning Facebook, I had to give it another try. I will NOT get old and crusty dang it! I don't want to be like that person who still uses AOL on dial-up when the rest of the world is on wi-fi. (You can see how gracefully I'm accepting my age...) So I created a new account under my blog name, and started to follow other teachers and shebangitty-bang, I was in love. Just.like.that. Seriously. I became an Instagram Junkie overnight, I tell ya! I think I narrowed it down to a few reasons why...

This is the big 'no duh'. It's all pictures. Big pictures with cool effects and captions! It's quick and easy to scroll through and see what's going on with my friends. It comes up and refreshes instantly, unlike Facebook that kind of takes forever and a day to load on my phone. And once I'm on I don't have to make any decisions or look for anyone or read notifications, it's all right there waiting for me. There are notifications if someone new is following you or liked or commented on one of your pix, but they're quick and easy to scroll through. And if you don't click on them, the notification icon disappears in a few seconds so it's not in your way or sitting there mocking you because you haven't clicked it yet.

Well, at least not yet anyway. I'm not distracted by the miracle cure for every disease ever that can be found in a little bean from the rainforest. And I'm not haunted by forty-seven shoes in my sidebar because I looked up "flip-flops" once. My scrolling is not interrupted by what Dr. Oz thinks I should eat or the fact that I can earn my Masters degree from home in my pajamas in 48 hours. I do see some bloggers and tpt'ers teasing or promoting items or blog posts, and personally I'm cool with that because I'm on Instagram for that reason, to see what's going on in my bloggy friends' classrooms and I get a little peek into their "real" lives too. So if you follow me on Instagram, you'll get lots of shots of what's going on in school, classroom projects, a teaser every now and then about what's coming up on the blog or what I'm working on, mixed in with a little of my ridiculously low-key personal life. I'll spare you the pix of me blogging from the couch, but we do go to some cool places from time to time too. Like last week, for example...

When I'm wrong, I admit it. Usually. But not always. But this time I was wrong about the photo effects. There are so many cool apps that let you turn your pictures into little works of art. It's so much more than the filters that come with Instagram which, to me, make your pictures look like you just found them in an old box in the garage. Personally, I'm loving Instacollage and Beautiful Mess right now.

Here's one of my biggies. On Facebook, if I like a company or joke or picture, it tells the whole wide world! I realize that "Denise likes Dove Chocolates" then "Denise likes Weight Watchers" are kind of contradictory, but whatev. I don't need everyone I know to know I'm a big, crazy mess who can't decide between chocolate and a lettuce leaf. It's also better that I don't know what some of my friends "like" either, if you know what I mean. The privacy settings seem to change every 15 seconds or so, so I can't even count on that keeping my secrets safe. During the election, I "liked' both candidates just so that I could see what both were saying. I didn't really like-like one of them, but Facebook told the whole world I did and that made for some interesting conversations at work! "You like HIM?? I can't believe it!" Womp. Womp.

This is probably my number one reason for loving Instagram. If I follow someone I actually get to SEE their stuff! Imagine that! Facebook has done some strange things with their algorithms and things so that even if you "liked" the page of a company, they won't necessarily show up in your feed! It kind of leaves people with a page for their business (like mine for SunnyDays) scrambling to keep people engaged with their page so you keep seeing them in your feed. Or worse yet, we are sometimes paying for posts to show up for you. Me no likey so much, so that's a big plus for Instagram right there. Everyone I'm following shows up no matter what.

I think one of the biggest reasons I became a convert is that for now at least, Instagram seems so much less commercial and personal. Like leaving New York City and moving to a quaint little New England town. It's more relaxed and calm. <--crap, maybe I am getting old. Also, focusing on following other teachers was a big factor for me. There are so many bloggers on Instagram, just check out their blog to see if they have a link or search them out once you're on. I've also found some by reading comments on pictures and then clicking on their name to follow. Be sure to check out #TeacherTalkTuesday too. It's a great linky started by Rachelle and Michelle. There are lots of other features, like picture challenges and the hashtag thing (both real and for fun) that could take up a whole 'nother post. But once you start playing around you just kind of get it.

If you're on, let's connect. You can find me here. I can't promise I won't ever take a "toe" picture though. I do have pretty good feet and it's a shame to keep them hidden from the world...

Catch that Sneeze Please!

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Tue, 28 May 2013 23:32:00 +0000

Ever found yourself in this positon?

source

As a teacher, I'm sure you have! You hear the build up and have no time to escape before the ACHOO heard 'round the classroom nearly knocks you over. You spend the rest of the day simultaneously trying to not be grossed out and mentally calculating if you'll be sick for the weekend. Now imagine that that sneeze was caught in a tissue instead of showering you. That's why I immediately agreed to join the team when Kleenex approached me to be a teacher ambassador.

In a perfect world, we could train all of our kids to sneeze into a tissue instead of sneezing all over us. The first step in this great plan of plans, is to actually have tissues available in the classroom. We don't have them as part of our standard supplies, so we ask for them every year on our supply list. This year, if you choose to specifically request Kleenex brand with box tops, you can enter your school for a chance to win 250,000 box tops! All you have to do is enter your school's supply list on TeacherLists.com between April 17 and July 17. Each qualifying entry will also receive a Kleenex share pack, while supplies last.

As part of my work with Kleenex, I'll be posting a video of a great lesson that you can easily replicate with your students when you return to your classrooms in the fall. It just might be enough to convince your sneezy students to always grab a tissue!

Make and Share Slideshows using iPhoto and Dropbox

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:30:00 +0000

Every year I create an end of the year slideshow to show at our final Tasty Tuesday (which I'll be blogging about soon, promise!)

Let's start at the start. I'm a Mac girl, so making the slideshow is seriously easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy-super-breezy! I import my pictures into iPhoto and add them all to one folder. Then when you click on that folder, you'll see this - look at the bottom of the window. Just click that slideshow button and DONE! No joke. It's that easy. If you're a PC person, it's ok. We can still be friends and all, but you will have to skip way down to the bottom of this post to see the Dropbox part. Unless of course you want to see the awesomeness that is Mac, then just keep reading ;)

That button will play a great little slideshow in which you can choose the transitions and even choose music from preloaded tracks or your itunes library.

Now if you want to go one step further, click on that "create" button over on the right and choose "slideshow"

Then you can choose the theme for your slideshow. The great thing is that the themes will randomly insert your pictures into cute frames or collages wherever they fit best!

Then choose your music...

And finally, under settings, you can choose things like having the slideshow repeat after it's finished, the length of time to play each slide or timing it so that the pictures end when the music does. It really does a remarkable job of making a professional looking slideshow SUPER easy.

Now...the big question. The parents always love it and they always want a copy. The usual route is to burn a dvd for cd for each child. This of course, requires time and a major expense. This year I wised up a little. When you are done making your slideshow with the steps above, you'll see the "export" button at the bottom of the screen. When you click that, the menu below will pop up. I chose medium and export. It just takes a couple of minutes, and then your slideshow will be on your desktop in a sharable format.

Here comes the genius part (that I have to credit my hubby with). You'll need a Dropbox account. It's free and you can sign up for an account here. It's a great way to store and send files online. Once you're in Dropbox, drag the video to your Public Folder <--- that's the important part. Don't just put it in your general Dropbox files, it has to be the Public Folder. (Edited: Accounts started after October 2012 no longer have a public folder, but you can share a link from any folder. Much easier actually!) Then after that, control-click on the video in the public folder and you'll see the option to copy the public link. Do that.

Then it will give you a link that you can email out to your parents! Then they can see the video on their computer and even download it themselves. See, told ya it was easy!

I sent it to all 20 of my families and they've all been able to see it, otherwise I would be a little hesitant to share this with you. We've got about 2 weeks to go here, so things are really starting get hectic. Being able to free up all that time and energy (and money) I usually spend making DVD's has been a lifesaver. Hope it helps you a little too!

Tornado Relief Efforts

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:33:00 +0000

As the stories of survival and tragedy unfold in Moore, Oklahoma, it's human nature to wonder what we can do to help. I've found a couple of ways so far and will add to this post as I see more legitimate relief efforts. Feel free to leave a link in the comments if you know of any.

Big love and prayers to everyone affected.

Great Gift Idea!

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:28:00 +0000

We're down to about 13 days left and they're jam packed! On Tuesday we'll be welcoming the parents into our rooms for our final Tasty Tuesday so that's been consuming every single second of my time and every ounce of my energy. I'll be taking tons of pictures and blogging about the whole shebang next week. It's so much work to get ready for, but it's a great day for the kids and their parents - and me. All I have left to do is some last minute shopping and a little praying that the sub doesn't let the kids destroy the room on Monday while I'm out for a training.

In other news, I have this great gift idea to share with you. I actually got this from my class two years ago but never got around to blogging about it. My room mom was seriously the stuff of dreams. The PTA at our school always collects money from each student for a gift for the teachers. Most often the room mom gives us a gift card with the collection, which is all kinds of awesome. I'm usually set for Starbucks through June and July...

Well, that year my room mom put together this little book with several gift cards to all of my favorite places. So cute, right?

The last page had an envelope with the leftover cash in it. I liked this idea so much that I've used it for gifts for family members myself. For my father-in-law we made one that had movie gift cards, his favorite restaurant, Home Depot, and a gas card. I love giving (and receiving) gift cards, but sometimes it feels so impersonal. This is a great way to make a practical gift very personal.

I think I have gift ideas on the brain because May is seriously our second Christmas. Our May family birthdays incude both of my sisters, my brother-in-law, father-in-law, childhood bestie, and my niece. Throw Mother's Day in there and it's non-stop shopping and family gatherings this month. In May, which just happens to be the busiest work month EVER (besides August, of course...) but it's all good. Food and fun with family and friends is what it's all about, right?

Beach Bingo Freebie

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Sun, 12 May 2013 12:49:00 +0000

There are 17 school days left here in my neck of the woods and my to-do list is getting longer by the second! We have our end of the year testing next week and our big grade level parent event to get ready for, so it's definitely still full steam ahead.

I don't know about you, but my kids love bingo games. So I made this one for them so we could have a little fun after testing. It originally started just as a summer bingo, but then I realized how many summer words were compounds and then things just snowballed from there and it became Compound Beach Bingo.

I made it with a 4x4 grid instead of the traditional 5x5 to save a little time when they make the board and also so that the games go a little faster. I like to have my kids choose the words for their board and illustrate one in each box and write the word. You can have them do either or both.

I also made the cards with two different ways to play. You can have the kids call out the actual word or you can use the cards that give a little clue to the word. The second choice obviously bumps it up a bit. Either way, keep an uncut copy of the word cards so a helper can put little markers on the words already called. Click here to download from tpt.

And just in case you haven't seen this in my newsletter or on Facebook, I've opened my own little shop right here on my blog. You can get to it by clicking way up at the top (under the flip flops) where it says Shop Right Here. Right now it's just got some of my best sellers listed, but I'll be adding to it for sure. As a little token of my appreciation and a celebration of my grand opening, here's a coupon that you can use through Monday 5/13.

{It's only valid here at my blog shop, not tpt <---which I totally love and have no plans of leaving anytime soon...}

Fabulous Feedback

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:15:00 +0000

I read each and every feedback that is left for me on tpt and I can't even tell you how happy, happy it makes me to hear that my stuff is making other teachers' lives easier. So when I heard about Christina's Fabulous Feedback Linky I had to join in.

And in case you haven't heard - there's a big sale going at one of my favorite places Tuesday and Wednesday! Every purchase will automatically be 10% off, then my store will be 20% off on top of that. My own wish list is packed!

When I first started creating my monthly printable packs, I did it mostly for myself. I wanted some printables that were more "meaty" than what I was seeing. If I'm going to use my precious printing ration at school, I want it to be worth it! I needed to have a stash of go-to resources for unexpected absences, homework or to have on hand for those times you just need the kids to be busy for a few minutes on their own. I started to make these packs back in October and they've really evolved over the year! I've been asked a few times if I'm making one for September. I definitely am! I'm working on a June/July pack right now, next up is an August/September. Then I want to go back and add some things here and there to the first few packs I made. Jenna and Krystal get it. Yay!

One of the products I get a lot of feedback on is my Common Core Math Assessment Pack for 2nd grade. I recently revamped the entire thing to include 3 assessments and kid-friendly objective posters for every standard. I learned so much while making these assessments and it was definitely a labor of love to create them, so to see that so many other teachers appreciate that is a feeling that's actually hard to describe. You might think the feedback I picked here is a little strange because it's not just a glowing endorsement. I love that strelitz took the time to offer some very insightful feedback. I really love it when buyers do this because it just helps me make things better for all of us! And the feedback at the bottom - well I about passed out when omarkus wrote that a district consultant recommended my pack!

And the final feedback from my May Calendar Task Cards seems simple, but means the world to me! Lindalouhoo says that her students look forward to seeing my name on their activities. That is exactly what happens in my room when I bust out something from the fabulous Amy Lemons. In fact, this week we're using her Mystery Genre pack and I totally heard the buzz "This is from Mrs. Lemons!". Cracks me up. To think that other classes are saying that about Sunny Days? Well, it just doesn't get better than that!

And P.S. Krystal, Jenna, strelitz, omarkus, and lindalouhoo please email me at ShopSunnyDays@me.com. I have a little thank you gift for ya!

EZ Prep Centers

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Sat, 04 May 2013 19:12:00 +0000

{For effect, please read the following in your best infomercial announcer voice}

Are you tired of spending hours laminating and cutting materials for centers? Have you gone through endless reams of card stock and too many ink cartridges to count? (you're doing the voice, aren't you? good. Keep going. And imagine a very exasperated teacher blowing her hair out of her eyes)

Do your children run in the opposite direction when you enter the room with arm loads of lamination that needs to be cut? Are you constantly struggling to find the right organizational system to keep track of little cards, stamps, manipulatives, baskets, buckets and envelopes you need to keep your materials together? (Now imagine a very harried looking teacher surrounded by game pieces, various baskets, bags, envelopes, etc. who looks at you and says "There's got to be a better way!")

Ok, before you change the channel. I'll get to the point ;) After spending about 2 hours printing, cutting laminating and sorting things for the upcoming week, I honestly started to think there has got to be a better way! Now at the same time, I've been mulling over the fact that we were recently told by a common core implementation team that we need to bump up the rigor of our independent centers. I honestly can't argue with them there.

So true story, later that night while in the shower, inspiration struck me like a thunderbolt! I think I figured out a way to make at least some of my centers easier to prep while providing both rigor and engaging activities for the kids. I'm calling them EZ Prep See-it Centers. EZ Prep for you, See-it for the kids. All you have to do is print out ONE page for the center and and answer sheet for the kids - and done! This is from the preview, it explains the whole idea. You can download the preview here.

I started off with 2 centers that are fun for this point in the year, beach and camping. Each one has a language arts and math activity page to go along with the picture. So, it's a total of 4 centers that you can have prepped in a matter of minutes! My plan is to make two more for each month/season. If you have any suggestions for themes, I'd love to hear them!

Hope you dig this idea as much as I do. I'd love to know what you think!

I {Heart} Instagram

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 23:13:00 +0000

As if I needed another social media ~~obsession~~ outlet, I have now discovered Instagram. I think I didn't really get it before today, but thanks to the great linky hosted by Rachelle and Michelle (see button below) I'm feeling the love!

It's like a mishmash of Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. You can take a picture of what's going on, add a cute filter or frame, a quick caption and a hashtag and boom - it's out there! The hashtags are great for searching. For example, today I could go through and search #TeacherTalkTuesday and see all the fun stuff going on in my teacher friends' classrooms!

I just started a teacher account for Instagram so I have a total of FOUR pictures right now, but I have a feeling that number will expand pretty rapidly! This is what I've captured so far...

Trust me, my Instabuddies are doing a much better job, but I'm getting there. Scrolling through today was a lot of fun! Just a quickie little snapshot of some really cool stuff going on!

I'm SunnyInSecond on Instagram if you want to connect! Check out the linky to find some other friends to follow too!

Orange Ya' Glad it's a Blog Hop?

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Welcome blog hoppers! How fun is this little trip to all your Florida friends? I hope you were able to make a new friend or two. I've got some links for the rest of the hop at the end of this post just in case you happened to hop in here. I'm stop #11. We're each offering a freebie and a glimpse at a paid product you might like. My freebie is from my favorite book for the end of the year, Last Day Blues. It's the companion book to First Day Jitters, another one of my faves. Click here to download from tpt.

And to keep the theme going, my paid product is my complete unit for Last Day Blues. I made this one about 2 years ago and when I went to get it ready for myself this year, I realized it needed a major upgrade, which I got to work on immediately! If you already own it, just go to "your purchases" on tpt and you can download the new version. If not, feel free to check it out by clicking here.

And just for fun, here are some of my favorite books for the end of the year.

Amazon.com Widgets

Next hop stop is my adorable friend and real-life co-worker Caitlin at Kindergarten Smiles!

I'm stop #11, so if you want to hop backwards through the rest, click on Lisa's super cute blog button. She's stop #10. If your OCD is freaked out by that, you can find the actual beginning of the hop right here at Mrs. Russell's Room. It's ok. I know how it is...

Boho Birds Bulletin Boards!

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 23:54:00 +0000

When I was asked by Carson Dellosa if I was interested in using some of their newest decor items for a mini-makeover, it took me about a half a second to reply - YES PLEASE! I got to choose from the collections you see here. It didn't take long to settle on the Boho Birds. Adorable!

Click HERE to see them all in detail.

Frist, I changed my biggest bulletin board which I use to display student work. I've had that cloud paper for years (no lie) and almost got rid of it several times since I painted my boards. So glad I kept it. It makes the perfect background! The letters go with the set too and I love how big and bold they are so they pop up on the wall.

It was so darn cute, I almost couldn't bring myself to add the kids' work! When I did though, it was super easy thanks to the way I added the bird cutouts. I used glue dots to stick a bird to a clothespin. Then I put glue dots on the head of thumbtacks to pin the bird to the board. That way I just have to push on the bird a little to open the clothespin and slip their work in or out. Why didn't I do this years ago?! I hope the pix help explain that a bit more...

Next, I revamped my Brain Builders Board (click here for more explanation about that). It took me forever to think of a new title, but I LOVE it! I actually made that from a clipart alphabet, but it matches pretty good, I think.

Then I changed over my other mish-mash board where I display current vocabulary words and some other random stuff. It was actually a lot of wasted space. I had plans for that board that never came to fruition this year, so I was happy to finally use it a bit better. It used to have monkeys swinging around the tree, but the birds moved in and I haven't seen the monkeys in awhile. Those small pocket charts were from the Dollar Spot at Target and the colored sentence strips were from Dollar Tree. I added some of the Boho Birds stickers and laminated them so I can write on/wipe off.

Here's a little tip for how I line up letters on posters. These stickers were part of the set. I use a ruler figure out where I want the title to start and end. Then I find the center of the title and start adding the stickers to the ruler, starting at the center and working out, with just the bottom touching. Then I lay it down on the poster and smooth down the top and gently lift up the ruler. I hope that makes sense. Maybe the pix will help...

I used some more of the bigger stickers to label my center boxes. We call them lit labs. I have them all in these plastic boxes which I'm seriously obsessed with, but more on that later. I printed "Lit Lab 1" on plain paper, cut it and glued it to the label before I laminated it.

Finally, I had some fun adding cute birdie touches to some other spots around the room. Here's a leftover bulletin board bird clipped onto the can that now holds rulers. I had that can forever too. Love that I have a use for it now!

Believe it or not, there was still a LOT of stuff that I didn't even use! I have plans for it though, so you'll see these birdies again. I felt a little crazy giving my room a make over at the end of the year, but I just love the new bright and cheerful look. It turned out to be a great way to energize everyone for the final sprint. Hope you can use some of these ideas to brighten up your home away from home!

I just linked up with Teach Junkie, come join us!

Random Acts of Kindness

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:38:00 +0000

With all the nasty, horrible things happening lately along with the stress of the end of the year to-do's piling up, I've seen even some pretty unhappy teachers lately. One of my friends in particular has just had the most horrendous year. On top of some heath problems, she just seems to be the one 'on the wheel' as we say. It's like every bad thing that can happen to her professionally has happened. I hate seeing what it's doing to her spirit and she so doesn't deserve it {I should add that I know she's not one to read blogs, so we're safe...} So, I wanted to do something nice for her but I didn't necessarily want her to know it was from me.

I hit upon the idea of a Random Act of Kindess, which I'm sure you've all heard of before. I bought a gift card to her favorite restaurant and looked for a cute tag to attach to it. I found a bunch online, but they all seemed to add a line about paying it forward. I was really afraid that she'd take it literally and feel obligated to spend money on something for someone else. So after searching high and low I decided to just make my own little tag that said exactly what I wanted it to, leaving off the line about paying it forward. This is what I left in her mailbox:

I started to think about other random acts that I could do for friends that would be of little or no cost, where I wouldn't mind leaving on that part about paying it forward - like taking their dismissal duty for the day or leaving them a favorite candy bar. So I created some extra tags that could be used for all sorts of things. I've actually had two different RAK's done to me. Once someone in front of me paid my tolls on the way to work and another time someone else paid for my coffee at a drive through. I felt such gratitude and joy both times, so for me it's high time to pay it forward.

If this sounds like something you might like to do, I made a whole set of little tags you can use. Download them for free right here.

With Teacher Appreciation right around the corner, this is perfect time to spread some happy! My husband had a great idea about leaving some tags in a basket in the front office to encourage other people to do it too. Is he awesome or what? I think I might do just that.

Coffee Plus Productivity = Coffitivity

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 15:28:00 +0000

Anyone who knows me knows that I loooooves me coffee. I drink copious amounts of it at home and at school, but getting to actually drink a latte at one of my favorite Starbucks (and yes, I absolutely have my favorites all up and down the state of Florida) is a definite guilty pleasure. I love to sit down in a comfy chair, open my laptop and read blogs or work on projects with the fun little hum of the coffee shop in the background. Most of the time my hubby is there with me or I'm cracking up and making a fool of myself with Gina.

If that sounds good to you, you are going to LOVE this find! It's a website that makes it sound like you're at a coffee shop, when in fact you might be in your classroom after hours or in your living room with a pile of laundry on your pool table reaching epic heights (eek!).

It's called Coffitivity. You just open the site and you're instantly surrounded by the sounds of other people drinking, clinking their plates and chatting in hushed tones! There's some brain research on the site about how their specific blend of sounds aids productivity. I just like it because it sounds like I'm at one of my favorite places! You can even adjust and mix the volume with your own music. Pretty nifty little site for a coffe lovin' computer nerd, such as myself.

Click here to visit the virtual coffe shop. Maybe I'll see you there!

My Magic School Bus

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 21:18:00 +0000

I love my clip chart as you know, but every class comes with is own specific needs and there have been classes that needed something a bit more. I've got two simple whole class motivators I've used in conjunction with the clip chart. I'll share one today and one tomorrow, you know, to build suspense and stuff.

Today's focus is the Fun Friday Bus. I'm no Ms. Frizzle, but I must say this is a pretty awesome bus. I've been teaching gifted second graders for a while and man, they can talk! Most of the time I love it. I love a little hum in the room almost all the time. Almost. Sometimes it's hard for seven year-olds to understand when it's time to be really quiet (like when Mrs. Boehm just needs one.little.second to catch her breath! But I digress...) In that case, I like for the whole class to have a visual way for them to work together to earn something fun. Some years I don't need this at all, some years I need it starting around March and some years it goes up the minute those cute little faces say good-bye on the first day of school. Today my kids were seriously vibrating with energy that was a little hard to channel, so on Monday they will be boarding the bus! There's no fancy name for this one, I just call it the Fun Friday Bus. It's a strip of border attached to the top of my white board with some printable road signs.

For those times when more than just one or two kids needs a clip down or up, I move the Fun Friday Bus to get their attention. The bus was a bulletin board piece attached to a magnet. I always have Fun Friday, but the kids have to earn the length of time by moving the bus to various road stops. Added bonus: somehow they are usually downright angelic on Friday morning if they are a bit far from goal. As if you needed another reason to love Friday~You're Welcome!

This works great for entering in the morning, transitions, coming back from lunch - basically any time they got a little wound up and I don't want to have 10 kids moving their clips. It's also great if they earn a compliment in the hall or when everyone comes in from recess the first time I call them. The bus can also move back and forth all during the week as needed.

If you want to get the bus moving in your room, click on the bus below to get a copy of the signs. There are some blank ones so that you can write your own ideas for road signs and customize them for your room (and a bus of course)! Click on this link to get the Road pattern border.You could always create your own with construction paper.

Eat your heart out Frizz, you're not the only one with a magic school bus!

Four Free Math Games

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 21:56:00 +0000

I do not remember learning how to read. I swear, I feel like I was born reading. I was a little mini-geek, getting all excited when I got to work in my phonics workbook. I loved me some Letter People and drove my family crazy reading along with every word on Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and Zoom. But I hated math. Hated.Math. Math just never made sense to me. I remember in third grade when we had to memorize our times tables I was embarrassed, ashamed and confused. I had never had any trouble in school before and those times table quizzes produced anxiety that I had never known. Ugh.

It's because of those experiences in math that I strive to make math as hands-on, engaging and fun as possible. Our district adopted Go Math last year and lets just say, I was less than enthused. I feel like I did less hands on than ever before. I will not do that this year. I'm sneaking in my games, dang it!

So in honor of my big, brave decision, here are a few of my favorites (that the kids end up begging to play!). Click on the pic to see it a little bigger.

For this one you'll need to do some advance preparation. Gather a bunch of popsicle sticks and draw ten black dots on one side and one red dot on the other. Each group of kids that plays together needs 10 sticks.

Click here to get a copy of the directions for each game.

For more great math games, click here to visit Laura Candler's Math Game Round-up!

Show and Tell Tuesday - What's Made You Happy Lately?

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:15:00 +0000

It's time for Show & Tell! I wrote a bit about this yesterday, but I want Show & Tell to be a little easier on everyone, including myself. I also want it to be a little more true to the whole purpose of my blog, which is to focus on the good stuff going on in our classrooms! Everyone knows all too well about the not-so-good stuff going on, so it's nice to focus on the positives.

I'll start. Today we had Tasty Tuesday. This is something I heard about a long time ago over on ProTeacher.net. Once a month on a Tuesday, we copy a recipe in our best handwriting, then we actually make and eat it, and write a review of the recipe. This post explains it in a bit more detail. We also use this as our grade-level parent event. We collect our recipes, pictures and reviews and compile them into a cookbook which we share with parents as they complete the last recipe together. This year's event is coming up soon, so I'll write more about it next month. So much fun!

Cooking in a room where we have no oven or microwaves, and are not allowed to use anything hot, like a hot plate or hot pot can be a bit challenging, but we make do. Today's recipe was a new one. When I saw it on Pinterest (where else) I knew I had to give it a try! Here's the original. How stinkin' cute, right?

Source: lifewith4boys.com viaFern Smith on Pinterest

They were actually very easy to make once you find the Twinkie replacement. I used Hostess Dreamies, but Little Debbie makes some called Cloud Cakes that would totally work. They don't taste exactly like a Twinkie (I did the research) but they look darn close! You'll also notice a big difference in our wheels. The fine folks at Spangler Candy sent me that ginormous box of Dum-Dums back in December. My kids have been drooling over them ever since. I wanted to do something really great with them and when I saw these bunny cars, it hit me! Dum-Dum wheels! We snipped the the stick in half so it wouldn't poke out of the other end of the cake. Adorable, or what? We still have about 400 Dum-Dums left (not even kidding), but I have another project up my sleeve for them...

We had some innovations on the original design, one just cuter than the next. Then we had a weight-lifting Peep. He's working hard on changing the stereotype that Peeps are just unhealthy sticky sugar balls.

This is the kind of stuff these kids will remember. Look at those faces! So, what was your happy this week? Link up to any post that shares some of the good stuff out there. Did you do a fun project with your kids? Did they surprise you with what they've accomplished? Did that one certain kid finally reach the milestone you've been working toward? Link up and share the good stuff. I know it's out there!

Just add this button to your post and be sure to link back here.

Tax Day Special and the Return of Show & Tell Tuesday!

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 23:58:00 +0000

Frist of all, congrats to the winner of the Hot Dots giveaway - Lori Rosenberg! I know her kids are going to love them as much as mine do!

Next up, I shared a fun little tax day offer with my Facebook fans, but it's only right to share it here as well. I just uploaded my May Printable Pack and from now until Tuesday night at midnight, the download will include the May Calendar Center Task Cards for FREE! You don't need to do anything special to get the calendar center, it will be included in the download. After midnight (or more realistically first thing Wednesday morning) I'll remove the calendar center from the download. This is the first time I'm trying something like this. Maybe it will become a thing!

Speaking of products, be sure to re-download your copy of the CCSS Math assessments if you own them already to get all the updates which include 2 additional assessments for each standard and new standards posters in kid-friendly language.

And finally, Show & Tell Tuesday is coming back tomorrow! I've been thinking a bit about how to make it the most beneficial for everyone, including myself. I started to feel like it was taking over my blog! I spent so much time thinking of a theme, finding my featured five and putting the post together - and then I felt like I had to leave it up for a while. So by the time one was over, I was already starting the next one! So, how about this. Show and Tell Tuesday is going to be a little more free-form. I'll start the post with something great that happened in the last week and then invite you all to link up! I'll share some more details tomorrow, but hopefully this will make it a little more fun for everyone (including me!) and it will be more in line with the focus of my blog, sharing the good stuff going on out there in classrooms just like ours all over the world!

Common Core Math Assessments. You asked, I listened!

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 14:18:00 +0000

My best selling items on TpT are my CCSS Assessment Packs. Not to toot my own horn, but the feedback I get on those packs always humbles me - in a big way.

Mixed in with all that yummy feedback, I've gotten some questions and suggestions. A couple of people mentioned that they weren't sure of the purpose of the posters for each standard. A few of you even suggested that they'd appreciate them more if they were in kid-friendly language. Guess what? I totally agree! Here's the first of the major updates I made:

The other thing that many people asked for was a second test for each standard so they have a pre- and post-test. Well, I did ya one better. The pack now includes THREE assessments for each standard! Now you can have a pre-, post- and extra practice page. I also made a few minor adjustments to some of the original assessments. Just little things I noticed could be a bit better after using them with my own class.

Another tweak I made was in the checklist. Originally, the checklist spanned two pages. I also noticed that when I punched holes to add it to my planbook, I was cutting into the standards. So I shrunk it down, fit it on one page and moved it over. I print one page for each kid and just jot down the date in the box. I also keep all the assessments in the same binder to have some proof. You know how that is these days with RtI and such...

And just as before, the new assessments all have answer keys.

I like when the answer key matches the page, so that's what I did with these.

So, what does this mean for you? Well, if you already purchased the original pack for $8 which you can see here, you will be getting all of these upgrades for FREE once I upload the new version. All you'll have to do is go into the "My Purchases" tab and download the revised copy after Sunday.

If you have not yet purchased it, I'm going to give you some time to get it at the $8 price as well. Once I list the new version, I'll be raising the price to $12.50 to reflect the revised content and additional assessments. However, I won't be doing that until late Sunday night. That means you can buy it now at the original price and then download the new version after Sunday which is chock full of new content!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

I thought this was a perfect post to link up to this new linky! Stop by and see what else is new!

P.S. If you're looking for a similar assessment for first grade, click here and for third grade click here!

Laminate something bigger than your laminator!

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:30:00 +0000

I recently bought some file-folder games from Shelley Gray and they are awesome! I am usually not a fan AT ALL because of the little bitty pieces that end up getting lost and once they use the game a time or two it kind of loses its appeal. I love these because you glue the pieces to the folder (genius!) and then change out the answer sheets to create different activities. Check them out here - really, they rock. I bought the bundle.

After I introduced them to my kids, they went bonkers because it was something new. They were totally engaged and then one group came up to to me and asked if they could make their own. Seriously! So of course, I didn't hesitate and I gave them a file folder, which for some reason was just the coolest thing ever. Before I knew it, just about every group had asked if they could make a folder game. We put that day's math lesson on hold and created our own file folder games. I mean, come on, how can you pass up a teachable moment like that? I know I'm in the fortunate position that I don't have to. Here are some of their creations. THIS is the stuff they really remember and really learn from.

Our school laminator is prehistoric, so I bought my own. I got a really good one from Sam's. It's a Royal Sovereign. It was a little over $100, but it's a workhorse. I get the pouches at Sam's too. They're $20 for 200! It's a lifesaver to have at home, but the one drawback is the size of the items you can laminate. I have figured out how to laminate some things that are bigger, like Shelley's folder games. I made a little picture tutorial to show you how I do it. I hope it makes sense!

Dream Room Design Project

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 14:26:00 +0000

Last week I was here:

Doing this:

And it was fantastic.

This week I was doing this:

With them:

And it was also pretty fantastic :)

My class is has reached that really sweet spot where they're independent enough to work on a extended project. Being the first week back from spring break, I felt like it was perfect timing for just such a project. We started by designing our dream bedroom. I told them that my biggest wish at their age was to have my own phone in my room. Considering that most of them actually have their own phone in their backpack, they thought that was a weird thing to wish for. Then I told them about my black and white tv with actual dials that changed channels and I completely lost them. And then I took some Geritol followed by a chaser of Centrum Silver and we continued...

Over the course of a week, we used the planning page to design our room, create a paint swatch, and choose the flooring. We listed everything we would or wouldn't want in the room. Then we made a triangle diorama and created the room that we designed. They went way above and beyond!

It was so cool to see their plans come to life! We had lots of great discussions about how the final project changed from the planning page. They talked about why they left some things out when they made the actual project and why they added some things they forgot about while planning. They were completely engaged and engrossed!

On Monday we're going to write about our rooms with lots of detail and descriptions. Now that they can actually see it, that should be the easy part. This project was an extension of the planning sheet which is part of my 50 Printables for Enrichment or Early Finishers, but the free preview for the unit has this sheet in it as a sample activity - which you can download here.

As for the rest of the pack, I make copies of about 10 pages at a time for each kid to have in their desk. We call it the challenge packet (very original, right?) and it's one of the many options for my early finishers to work on while the others catch up. Some never finish the first pack, some fly through it. I also use some of the pages for a center, subs or morning work if I need something quick. I've also used some for homework and they come in really handy for the last few weeks of school when you need the kids to be a little busy without you.

If you like what you see in the rest of the pack, I put it on sale through Monday!

Have a great weekend!

Win a set of Hot Dots!

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 23:29:00 +0000

It's giveaway time, courtesy of:

I just L-O-V-E my new Hot Dots and I'm so excited that one of you will win a set for your classroom!

I actually had a set of these many, many moons ago and they were not so great. The pen was much smaller and the tip was a longer nub that pushed in (and often stayed pushed in). They didn't always work so well and in short, were generally disappointing. But all that is ancient history!! These new Hot Dots are amazing!

They have a big, kid-friendly pen that not only lights up, but has a fun audio component too. If a child answers correctly, the pen lights up green and makes a fun noise like cymbals crashing, applause or "way to go!". If they answer incorrectly, it lights up red and has a cute message like "oops!", "oh, no!" or "try again". The noise isn't too loud to be distracting to others and makes for a fantastic self-checking center.

The set I reviewed was Laugh it Up Spelling which you can see here. The cards use a riddle or joke to help the kids practice spelling. My kids are in love! They work perfectly and have been in constant rotation for the last month and they are still going strong.

As soon as I saw my kids loving these, I knew I had to order more of my own to add to the set, which was no easy task! Hot Dots are available in all subject areas and on all grade levels. For a chance to win a set of your own, just use the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Lirpaloof Hunt!

noreply@blogger.com (SunnyDays) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:38:00 +0000

Did you all survive April Fool's Day? We had a BLAST! Well, I did. I think maybe my kids got mad at me. We hunted down that elusvie lirpaloof on Monday morning. {peek here if you missed the first part of this} I seriously almost lost it when I was explaining the whole thing. I was all dramatic-like talking about how lucky they were to get to look for the lirpaloof and how I thought for sure I saw one on the way in. They feel for it hook, line, and sinker!! We searched and sang and ran around the whole park - and no lirpaloof. I finally gathered them around and did some fake-googling and found out that it helps if you call its name out backwards. So I wrote it out in sidewalk chalk forward and backwards. We sounded it out and...april fool's - joke's on you!

Honestly, there were a little mad at me!! I felt kind of bad. I even felt a little bit guilty! Like here I am this person they just blindly trust with their whole little heart and I just led them on a crazy goose chase, literally! But they loosened up and started giggling about it. Especially after I showed them the video of themselves below. So, we're all good.

And, no worries, they worked ALL DANG DAY to get me back. They actually had some good ones beyond the usual "there's a spider on your back!" Here are some of the ones I could actually take a picture of.

I've heard from a few bloggy friends who also searched for the lirpaloof. I LOVE that! If you blogged about your lirpaloof adventure, feel free to link up below. I'd love to hear about it :)