Milestone Giveaway & Freebies!

I am SO excited to announce that my little store has reached 1,000 Facebook followers and 4,000 Instagram followers! You all are the best! When I started this journey last April, I never thought I would get this far. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I couldn't have done this without you --- so how about a giveaway and some freebies?!?

Scroll down to enter!

I will be posting freebies on Facebook from some lovely teacher friends throughout the day. One product will be posted every hour, on the hour, starting at 8:00am. They are only free for 15 minutes, so HURRY!

GIVEAWAY!

21 teachers are joining me in the celebration. Each of them is either donating store credit or a product for you to win. Enter the Rafflecopter below to get a chance to win all this goodness! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you for following along with me on this journey!!!!

New Look & Giveaway!

Hey everyone! I am beyond excited to share this little blog's brand new look! Thank you SO SO much to Bobbi at Ready to Blog Designs. She is a gem! If you need a great blog designer who is very reasonable and amazing to work with, I highly recommend Bobbi!

I started this blogging/creating/TeachersPayTeachers journey this past April during my first year of teaching. I had been *obsessed* with teaching blogs during undergrad and always thought to myself, "When I have my classroom, I am going to go broke!". I never thought I would be so blessed by this blogging/TPT community. I am beyond thankful for all of the new support and friendships that have grown from this!

Once I started teaching, I felt myself being pulled toward certain products on TPT and certain styles of teaching on teacher blogs. You know those few that you just keep going back to? Those few teachers make you want to spend hours making adorable anchor charts and laminating all types of activities! Today, I'm sharing a few of my favorites with you! {Stick around for a fun giveaway!}

My ultimate goal is to reach each individual student. This is a tough task, and I am by no means a teacher superstar. However, I do try my best to differentiate and enrich as much as possible. I give two spelling tests each week, print two (sometimes three) separate sets of homework each night, and teach reading and math in small group. So, when I stumbled upon the blog by Miss DeCarbo back in the day, I was amazed at those little first graders and their amazing writing abilities! They blew me away! And I kept reading. Ever since that day, I have made sure that I was in tune with everything Christina had to say. If you haven't yet, be sure to check out her Wordless Wednesday Linky Party! It is one of my favorites. A few teachers at my school are loving all things DeCarbo - check out this little one's hard work! Thank you, Christina, for being my first grade writing guru.

Sight Word Fluency Passages for Reading Intervention by Miss DeCarbo

The no prep printable queen of The Moffatt Girls, is another one of my favorite teacher authors. As I read her blog, I think "Please let me be that awesome of a mom/teacher/homeschooler/blogger/author one day!" Annie does it all! Her No Prep math and literacy packs are brilliant for Sub Tubs, independent work, and extra practice. I used her Word Work Bundle this summer while teaching deaf and hard of hearing students. It was great for the 1st and 2nd graders who need repetition by sight because they are not able to hear letter sounds. Thank you, Annie, for inspiring me by teaching your two sweet girls with such engaging activities!

Word Work Bundle by The Moffat Girls

If you know me well, you know that I am in love with {ALL} the products from Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd. Let's just say I've bought almost all of her new products this school year, and I am not even in a classroom full time. What does that tell you? She is amazing. Her style is so unique, I just look at a product and can tell you if it is hers. Thank you, Ashley, for being so sweet, personable, and happy to help!

Blo(r)ganizer Binder by Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd

Ever since high school, I have been a bit crazy about color coding my planner. I used to have a highlighter for each subject just for my planner. Each day, the order of the colors would rotate. When I finished an assignment, I would highlight over the listing with that specific matching color. OCD? Maybe. Organized and wonderful? Definitely! You can only imagine my excitement when I learned about the genius behind A Modern Teacher! Oh. My. Word. April creates adorable customizable planners that are updated yearly! You heard that right...updated YEARLY. That means, once you buy the planner, you have a new one each year! I just can't get enough of mine.

Teacher Lesson Planner by A Modern Teacher

These ladies have changed my life for the better! They inspired me to put my creativity to the test to help my students stay engaged and succeed in all that they do. I am extremely grateful for the collaboration that has come about from TeacherPayTeachers. It makes me smile daily.

Today, I am pleased to announce this fun giveaway brought to you by the amazing teacher-authors listed above. Christina, Annie, Ashley, and April - I cannot thank you enough! Enter to win the amazing products listed below! Giveaway ends Monday at midnight.

Fonts by KG Fonts

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Teaching!

Back to School Product Swap!

This summer has FLOWN by! Seriously, where has the time gone??? I feel like it was just yesterday that I was waving off my first set of firsties! But, believe it or not, it's already time to go back to school. Luckily, TeachersPayTeachers loves all of us. The BTS 2014 sale is this Monday & Tuesday! Are you ready? I know I am! I have a bunch of wish list items ready to be purchased.

My sweet friends Alisha from Missing Tooth Grins and Katie from Simply Creative in KY decided to get together for a mini product swap. We wanted to give ya'll a closer look at some of our brand new products!

I have the wonderful pleasure of looking through Katie's Let's Talk About It: Teaching Students How to Talk About Text. People, it's amazing! This pack has so many different resources to help you help your students discuss their reading. True Common Core, my friends. Discuss, discuss, discuss.

First off, please just look at all that color! I mean, really! Who doesn't love color?!?! This is just pure teacher happiness! This is the whole pack printed and ready to teach with!

 

Okay, now let's take a look at the inside of this pack.
Katie includes:

1. Lesson Ideas about using sticky notes, summarizing, learning to take turns, and making conversations meaningful using various resources. 

2. Stop & Jot and Text Talker anchor charts

3. Five Phrase Posters

4. Text Talk Bingo

5. Talking Sticks

6. Text Talker Bookmarks

7. Discussion Cards for chapter books, picture books, and nonfiction texts.

Katie includes so many different options in this resource. I used it in camp this summer and it was perfect for all grade levels! I loved using it and being able to really talk with the kids about what they were reading. It was quick and easy because I had questions at my fingertips and engaging ways for the kids to interact and question each other. 

(Here's a little behind the scenes action)

Those clothespins are the "Talking Sticks" that are included. Just print, laminate for durability, and attach to a popsicle stick with hot glue. BUT, I had to change it up a bit. I didn't have popsicle sticks, so I decided to use some white plastic clothes pins (super cheap at Publix!). This turned out to be super useful...more about that to come!

 Katie includes all the posters full size like this one. However, to save paper and make it easy for Small Group storage, she also includes them 4-to-a-page, which I LOVE!

 It's as simple as printing, laminating, whole punching, and adding a binder clip to the corner. 

 Here are some different ways to use this engaging reading resource...

I laid out all the clothespins for the kids. If they wanted to ask a question about what they were reading or to talk about something, they would just grab a pin.

 I am oh so glad I used the clothespins. It worked like a charm when reading with my group of 4-5th graders. Have a question while reading? Just grab a clip and attach it to your question or evidence. This way, I knew that the kids wanted to talk without any talking! It also helped because I was able to notice when students were actively reading and when they weren't. Without interrupting them, I was able to know what they were thinking about. (Katie, this is brilliant!) 

I also used these clips with a struggling reader who is repeating first grade. She needed a lot of prompting and support, but the hands on process of clipping the actual question prompt to her evidence really helped.

(She goes, "That reminds me of when my mom says that to me when I'm annoying her!")

HA! Kids tell all!

Here is the same student using the "Talking Sticks" and the bookmark. Get this bookmark as an exclusive freebie from Katie's pack here. It is fabulous! It was a great reminder for this student when she would start to get distracted. We would read her bookmark together and review how to be a great "Text Talker". This refocused her quickly and without any problems.

These colorful cards are the heart of the Text Talker product. Katie has included SO MANY questions for you to ask students. I laminated them and put them on binder clips so that they are easy to flip through and take off. I had students ask each other these questions in my 4-5th grade group. Here, the student was telling me that this picture was important because it shows the friendship between the man and his monkey after the man's paralyzing car accident. 

I also had students lead the discussion with the question cards. The older kids loved being a teacher. They were eager to add to each other's conversation and were obsessed about clipping those pins to their papers! Katie includes 3 different card sets: Chapter Books, Picture Books, and Non-Fiction Texts. You are good to go!

I love that the cards are small enough to sit right next to the student. This entire resource is so student and teacher friendly! Whether you want to lead the conversation or you want the students to, these cards are a great addition to your classroom.

Oh and these cards that I mentioned before, these are my ultimate favorite! Look at that adorable Melonheadz clipart!! Perfect size for little kiddie hands!

Freebie anyone?!?!

So, after seeing all these pictures, you will definitely want to stop by to check out Katie's adorable freebie. She has uploaded this as a sample of her Text Talker product. These bookmarks will be a perfect addition to your classroom! And if you like what you see (I mean, why wouldn't you!?!) check out her entire Text Talker resource.

 Also, you can enter our giveaway below! The winner will get all three products for free! Just in time for Back to School! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We hope you enjoy. Thanks for stopping by! Check out two more of our new products by hopping over to my sweet friends' blogs below.

Read about the adorable Back to School Snapshots with Katie!

Check out my newest close reading passages with Alisha!

1500 Instagram Follower Giveaway!

I cannot thank everyone enough for their support! Since I started this blog in April, I have found so many teachers who share the same passion as I do. It is truly refreshing to be uplifted by such a fabulous group of people! Not only have I gained supportive friends and mentors, I have found great joy in creating and helping other teachers. Thank you for following along the way! 

 To celebrate, I have a giveaway for all of you! Thirty-four (Yes, 34!) wonderful ladies have generously donated products for this giveaway. People, it is JAM PACKED with resources! The winner will get this huge bundle of goodies along with the Winner's Choice/Store Credits AND a set of Custom Stationery! {HECK! I want to enter!} :)

Enter this giveaway at the links below. You will receive one entry for each teacher blog/store/Facebook page listed below. The more times you enter, the higher your chances are of winning! Good luck and THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Back to School...already?!?! {& Giveaway!}

Summer is quickly coming to an end. This is my August calendar (in my BRAND new planner from A Modern Teacher!)...

Can you see that?!?! August 4th. Yup. My new job has me back in school on August 4th. I won't be in the classroom this year, but hey, that's still pretty darn early! On the positive side, I'm excited for this new adventure.

When do you start back to school???



GIVEAWAY CLOSED! Congratulations Kristin (My Carolina Classroom), you won!

 ***Answer this question in a comment below and you will be entered into a giveaway to receive one product of your choice from my store! Giveaway winner will be announced Friday morning!