Sunday Savings - 10/26/14

Good morning! It's a beautiful day for a Sunday Savings link up with my friend Nicole from All Things Apple in 2nd. Have you linked up yet?

I cannot believe we are now in the end of October. Time flies!!! Before you know it, Christmas will be here! In honor of the end of the month and the fact that fall is about half way over, my fall products are 15% off today.

 Here's a close up of all the goodies on sale! Click on the picture below to see larger previews of each product in my store.

Check out some of my favorites!

 Our pumpkin play dough was also a perfect lesson to add into pumpkin season. You can read more about that here. This STEM Jr. activity is also on sale in my store today!

Thanks for stopping my! Head back to All Things Apple in 2nd to see more Sunday Savings!

Fall Favorites Blog Hop - Taste Tests!

Welcome to the Fall Favorites Blog Hop! I hope you enjoy hopping from one blog to another to hear about many different fall lessons and activities. Maybe you can try one in your classroom...Stay tuned for a freebie at the end of this post!

I absolutely love fall. I don't get much of it {FL girl, born and raised}, but it is my favorite. I incorporate many thematic units from September-December in order to keep the kids engaged and hit all of the necessary curriculum in a fun way.

In October, we spend an entire day looking at pumpkins. We write, read, sequence, create, and experiment with pumpkins. We count, practice math skills, plant, and predict with pumpkins. In November, we spend an entire day acting like the Pilgrims and Indians (Colonial Day). We write, read, sequence, create, and experiment with colonial items. We practice math with corn and design maps of the Atlantic Ocean.

Pumpkin Day!

But today, I would like to introduce you to the student favorite of both themed days - The Taste Test.

DISCLAIMER: Please, please, please check your students for allergies before including this in your classroom.

Pumpkin Taste Test

The idea is quite simple: Just buy some foods, place them on the table, print the graph, and EAT! Let me tell you, the kids have a fabulous time! It is also quite cute to hear all their Mmmmmmmmm's and Ewwwww's. Amidst all this excitement, the students don't even realize that they are practicing graphing!

Thanksgiving Taste Test

You can choose whichever foods you prefer or have access to. Here is a list of ideas that I have used in the past:

Pumpkin: pumpkin bread, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin pie, pumpkin coffee cake, pumpkin ice cream.
Thanksgiving: biscuits, corn bread, popcorn, apple pie, cranberries, cranberry juice.

Thanksgiving Taste Test

You may be able to get some donations to have a fun day like Pumpkin Day or Colonial Day! Ask parents in advance! Get volunteers to come in. Make a day of it! If you are interested in the entire Pumpkin Day product, you can check it out by clicking the picture below. The Pumpkin Taste Test graphs are available in this pack.

All students can use practice graphing! Soooo...here's a little freebie for you. Click on the image below for the graphing freebie! Also, be sure to hop over to my store to check out some fall product discounts!!! Happy Fall Ya'll!

Now be sure to hop on over to my friend Kristen's blog for more fall fun!

FREEBIE! - Mental Math Center

I'm excited to share this little freebie with you!

I'm currently obsessed with the bright, clear, and adorable clipart from Krista Wallden at Creative Clips. So, when I got these adorable little soccer dudes, I just HAD to create!

Since, I don't have a classroom this year, one of my sweet friends sent me a few pictures of her kids using this during math centers...(Pardon the cropping...I had to cut their sweet faces out!)

So, the center activity consists of task cards, soccer ball number cards, and a recording sheet.

Students read the question on the card. It may say something like "What number is 10 more than 43?". Then they look for the soccer ball that shows 10 more than 43. 

The kids then match the soccer ball to the correct task card (as you can see on the top two cards in the picture). If this game were played on the floor or at a table, students would be able to "make a goal" by putting the matching soccer ball right on top of the goal!

I've gotten some great feedback from teachers at my own school who are using it in 2nd and 3rd grade as a review of 5 more/less and 10 more/less addition and subtraction skills. The kids are all excited about the soccer theme and love "making goals".

Be sure to grab a copy of this forever FREEBIE! Happy Teaching! If you like what you see, be sure to follow my blog & check out my Close Reading Mini-Series or Math Center How-To for lots of ideas! Also, be sure to grab some other freebies by heading over to Freebie Friday at the Teaching Blog Addict!

My Favorite Things - Back to School Linky Party

Hey ya'll! I'm linking up with oh so many wonderful teachers for a great big back to school linky party! Today, I'm sharing a few of my favorite things (cue Sound of Music soundtrack!). 

Below are 5 things that I cannot live without during the school year. Take a look around, enter the giveaway, and then hop around to some other blogs to hear about more back to school must haves!

I admit. I'm obsessed. This is a picture of one side (my side) of our walk in closet. Nick's clothes only get the top left side of the closet. I basically own that space! During the year, dresses are my staple. It's funny...I was known for wearing dresses at my old school. I think I may have about 50...that's not a joke. :) This year, I will not be in the classroom. I have an office. Do you know what that means??? HEELS! My flats are all on the bottom of the closet, however, these beauties up above will get some good wear this year. I'm excited!

This is perhaps the best investment you can make. These cardboard magazine holders are $1.99 for a 5-pack! Yes people, five!!! Last year, I funded all my book bins for a whopping $8. Now that is what I call a deal! Go grab them today! You can also order them on IKEA's website. I bought a few extras in case I needed them. I never ended up using them. During the year, if one box opened at the bottom, I would just tape it with clear packing tape. I also made number labels for the boxes. I laminated them and added a small velcro circle to the back. Then, I added the other velcro piece to the book bin. This way, I can keep the numbers each year. Plus, if a student leaves, I just grab a new book bin and attach the number to the velcro. Voila!

This is my life. I LOVE it. Seriously, you may need to go buy it right now. It's editable which means you can make it look however you wish! I printed so many pages that I will have to have two different planners...one for each semester. This planner is serving as my work, school, TpT/blog, and Master's organizer this year. I can't wait to fill it up with school activities!

Math centers were a MUST in my classroom. They were also a MUST in my school. Luckily, I am a huge fan. I created this product a few months ago to organize myself a bit more this school year (before I found out about my new position), but it has proven to help other teachers greatly! This How-To Math Centers pack is a step-by-step guide to implementing math centers in any classroom. Whether you want to update the way you operate centers, or you have never used math centers in your classroom, this pack is a great resource to guide you along the way. It includes images and ideas, as well as a schedule and schedule cards. Check out the preview to get a closer view. If you need activities for your centers, check out some of my math center packs or just simply search "Math Centers" on TeachersPayTeachers. There are so many wonderful options available. If you would like more information about how I implemented math centers, check out my blog post all about it.

I discovered GoNoodle toward the end of the school year. I wish I knew about it earlier. My kiddos LOVED it. It is an online site that allows students to earn points for each activity they complete. Your students can do Zumba, yoga (see my kiddies above), track, or even just do silly dances! I use these very often for indoor recess because it rains a lot in South Florida in the afternoon. During testing, my students would do brain breaks with GoNoodle to get their wiggles out. This site is fabulous. I cannot get enough. Definitely check it out today!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to enter the giveaway below and hop around to the other teacher blogs below! Good luck this year! Happy Teaching!

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An InLinkz Link-up

Wordless Wednesday - Center Storage

Linking up with Christina from Sugar and Spice today! Love Wordless Wednesdays...although this one isn't very wordless...ooopps!

This week I finally printed some of the things I have created this year.

 I started organizing my centers like this last year. We did literacy and math centers every day so I had A TON of activities and no where to keep them. Now I store my centers in plastic Ziploc bags. All the Ziploc bags go in a filing cabinet or the closet (depending on subject and topic). This is convenient for me & for early finishers who need to be kept busy!

 I print and laminate everything. I cut any extra white or lamination off of the big direction sheets. This way, they fit perfectly inside the zipper of the Gallon bags. Each activity has an individual bag that includes:

1) Anchor Charts

2) "I Can" Statement/Direction Sheet

3) Task Cards or Activities

4) One copy of the recording sheet for easy access.

Just grab it and make copies.

On Fridays before I leave, I grab the centers for the next week, take them out of the large bags, and put them in our center bins, like the one below. I leave the task cards in the small sandwich bags.

I keep the empty Gallon bags in a bin by my desk until I need to put them away again. Easy & cheap. If a bag rips, grab a new one!  

How do you store and organize your centers?

Be sure to link back up with other teachers!

Monday Made It - Healthy Salsa Dip and more!

So excited to be linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics again for Monday Made It!

Thought I would share the best {healthy} recipe EVER with you. 

...Well, maybe I'm biased, but it is DARN good!

Here is what you will need:

Tomatoes, cucumbers, avocados, onions, lemon juice, balsamic dressing, salt, pepper

How many? You choose! I usually use 3 medium tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, 2 avocados, and an onion. But, if you want to make a huge batch, you will obviously need more. If you don't like a ton of onion, you'll want to limit that. You catch my drift...

Get your food chopper ready! All you have to do is chop everything up very fine. That way it will fit on a chip perfectly. Pour it all into a big bowl. Add some lemon juice and about 2 tablespoons of balsamic. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper to your liking. Mix it up well and enjoy! Simple and yummy. If you are on a no-chip diet, just eat it with a spoon. It's THAT good!

It. is. fabulous.

I will warn you now. You may not be able to stop eating it. Don't tell me I didn't warn you. :) 

This is my current baby. :) Not only was I obsessed with the clipart from A Price for Teaching (Seriously, check her out!), but I worked on this nonstop for two days. Here's just a sneak peak at three of the six activities:

The colors and the theme are so fun! Each activity can be seen separately, or you can save some money and check out the bundle!

And this is finally finished up also after sitting on my desktop "In Progress" for about 3 weeks. It's half off for the first 24 hours (until Monday at 12:00 midnight). 

I've been doing a lot of research on close reading for my masters (Heck! This past week my Monday Made It could've been my longgg meta-analysis!) and I've found a lot of great resources. I've blogged about it in the past, so if you would like to learn more stop by! Anyway, I put that research together with some beautiful graphics to get this!

This weekly layout makes it easy for teachers who have never used close reading in the classroom.

 I've provided two versions of every handout for easy differentiation.

That's all for now!

Be sure to hop back over to the linkup for more original creations!