The Ancient One and End of the Year Gifts

My students and I were so lucky to receive a copy of T.A. Barron's fantasy adventure, "The Ancient One." A couple of my students were excited to get their hands on a copy and begin reading.

We normally have independent reading time during our Daily 5 and they decided to write a short review on what they thought so far:

The students are enjoying the fact that this book is an adventure about helping the environment.  My one student Kate who is reading was excited to see the main character's name - Kate!

My fourth graders enjoy adventure, suspense, and visuals - the maps that can be found on T.A. Barron's site go right along with the stories.  How cool is that? My children are so impressionable right now and some have developed a dislike for reading :( However, when they can relate to a story and follow a character that they love, they feel like they are a part of it.  

You can find "The Ancient One" at Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, and Amazon! :) T.A. Barron has many other great books that you can check out.  I personally want to check out "The Wisdom of Merlin" myself.


Sooooo it's the end of the year.  My fourth graders have accomplished so much and they were wonderful to work with.  I knew that they deserved wonderful things sooo of course I went to Oriental Trading for my party needs.  I am also getting married this Saturday (4 days, no big deal) and they also are amazing with wedding supplies!

These tote bags were adorable to put lots of goodies in for my kids.  They were bigger than I had expected, but they definitely hold their weight.  These are perfect for lighter objects however, because I know with lbs and lbs of weight, these would break.  I told the kiddos that they would be able to put their beach stuff in these (towel, sunglasses, sunscreen) or put a light book and personal belongings in them as well. 

My kids (at all ages) love oriental trading prizes.  I got the sticky hands (they LOVE anything like this!) and some fun mini neon bouncy balls!  These are mini though and I don't recommend for younger children. 

 I wrapped their goodies in treat bags from the dollar tree to stay organized with the smaller items.  

My fourth graders faces light up with these ADORABLE FOXES.  I can't... they are just too cute.  My 9 and 10 year old boys and girls loved them :) They come in blue, pink, orange, and red.  

I am always a happy customer with Oriental Trading!

Disclaimer: Oriental Trading sent me products in exchange for a blog post, but all opinions in this post are mine.