February Freebies

Hi friends!

It's been.... phew. A long time.  I apologize for not keeping up to date but I'm a new busy mama over here :) My son, Owen, is 13 months old now.  Time sure flew by and he's the greatest love I've ever known.

Speaking of love, I have found a couple amazing February freebies, perfect for Valentine's Day.  The first one is from Longwing Learning. It is a  February bulletin board that is being displayed currently outside my second grade classroom called What do you know by heart?

What I loved about this resource is that it got my second graders thinking... what am I good at?  What would I be able to teach others?  What is in my heart?
Examples that my students came up with include:
-Addition and subtraction facts          -Reading books
-Being a good friend                           -How to love
-How to speak another language        -How to be kind


The other freebie my students were very excited about was a Family Valentines Project by Teacher's Breathing Space.

I cannot wait for these to come back next week.  This project allows for my students to work with their families and have fun and decorate their hearts however they want.  Unleash their creativity!  They are also allowed to take leadership in the design ;) Very excited second graders I have!
-I laminated the hearts on cardstock
-I laminated and printed in color the sign "Our Family Valentine Projects" so I can use year after year.
-I also gave my students at least a week to complete - life is busy!

I hope you enjoy these freebies... check out more Valentine's products in my TPT store.

Here's a fun writing freebie for the younger grades :)

Happy February!!

Back to School and Prizes Galore

In New York, we go back to school in September but I am thinking about my classroom all summer long (in between teaching summer school!) I love to find new and exciting products for my second graders.

Disclaimer: This review is based strictly on my opinion. Others may have a different opinion or experience. I was provided the sample free of charge or paid a small fee by the company or PR agency and I provided my honest opinion.

 

I was excited to find this "Welcome" sign that I will hang outside my classroom after summer school ends :) It goes great with my black accents around my classroom. Definitely large and pops!  I think it'll look nice to invite my students in on the first day of school.

Who doesn't love pom poms? I have adorable white and gray ones already, so I thought hey - why not try black?  These are so reasonably priced, but I was a little careless with assembly.  A few of the corners ripped since there's so many sections to make it look full.  The finished product came out cute (not like the photo), but I should have had more patience with unfolding them ;)  Would I purchase again? For the price yes, but I may have someone more crafty put them together! 

I will buy these pencils year after year for my second graders.  They hold up nicely and I always want to make their birthdays special.  Also, second grade pencils (or Kindergarten, 1st, or 3rd grade pencils!) are perfect for the first day of school and to get them excited for the year. 

Do you do Star Student in your class? I do for one full rotation of the class.  I have a special day of the week where they will share items, read books, and receive a book at the end of the week that has compliments and notes from his/her classmates.  These stickers are so cute and at a wonderful price! 

Click HERE to download the star student cut outs that I hand out to each star student to fill out at home and share on our poster.

Roly Poly stuffed pets and Roly Poly stuffed Easter-themed animals will be so cute for my kiddos for end of the year gifts (shhh - don't ruin the surprise!) I know it says "Easter themed" but who doesn't love chicks, bunnies, and lambs always?  In second grade, we hatch chicks too so I thought it was appropriate! 

Slap bracelets are definitely making a come back since my childhood... but DIY ones? My creative kids will LOVE designing these! For 13$ you get 48 in a pack so I will be able to use these with next years class too! 

Penguin bendables! Ok yes, I know it's July - but I couldn't pass these up and I'll have something to give them around the holidays.  They are really cute for the price and I would purchase again, but a couple had some paint chipping off - not too bad though and I know my sweeties won't care! 

Thanks for reading!

Also - there are still 3 more days left in the Back to School giveaway!!! Don't forget to enter! :) $250 you could get sooooo many wonderful things!  Best of luck!

$250 Oriental Trading Gift Card Giveaway

Report Card Comments

It's Report Card time!

You may be already done with school (I still have 7 days left) but maybe you can use this blogpost for future years.  Report card comments are one of the most difficult things for me to write - how do I get started?  What are the highlights that I need to touch upon?  

I wanted to compile a group of resources (free!) that I have found helpful for report card comments.  I currently teach second grade but I have found these links helpful when I taught other grades as well.

Scholastic has a wonderful resource of report card comments that are broken down into different subjects and categories.  Very easy for families to understand and great sentence starters to make your own!

Another great resource is from Lakeshore Learning and it is a PDF file full of report card comments in a similar format as Scholastic's.  :)

Some in-depth literacy report card comments come from Teacher Related Resources.  I like these because they give me ideas for my conferences and identifying the strengths and needs of my students in reading and writing.

My last resource I am going to share is a freebie from Teachers Pay Teachers from One Teacher's Adventures.  Over 125 comments and they are all great and such a variety!

How do you get ready for report cards? What has helped you?

I hope you can use these resources!

Happy Holidays with Oriental Trading

Happy Holidays!  I was very excited to receive my big cardboard box full of exciting items for my students to enjoy from Oriental Trading.  I teach Second Grade and I have to tell you that they absorb everything and they are excited about many things - especially the holidays.

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

When I search Oriental Trading, I love how I can just go to the categories I need - Holidays/Christmas and who doesn't love sales? They have a great sale section as well.

The "main event" of my student gifts are these adorable penguins.  I love the plush toys from Oriental Trading because they are so cute and the kiddos cherish them at this age.  These plush toys are currently sold out, but I also would recommend these holiday bears and reindeers.  Too cute and they are on major SALE!

The slap bracelets are back! I LOVED these as a child.  They are fun to slap on your wrist, but also a fashionable bracelet.

I loved the variety of these but I am hoping that they come out with more of an assortment for boys.  There are other slap bracelet assortments that have different themes, but this particular pack will appeal mostly to the girls of my class.  It was a nice to have some bracelets with designs and some plain, sparkle ones.

The item I was impressed with the most are these 4 1/2 inch snowflake notepads.  For only $5.99, you will receive 24 of these.  Very good quality and they were larger than I expected for the price.  I have lots of artists and notetakers in second grade so they will love these!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy Hanukkah!  I can't wait to celebrate with my students all about the holidays around the world.

Enjoy my freebie from Teachers Pay Teachers full of writing prompts that you can use before and after the holiday season.

Fourth Grade Freebies

Teachers Pay Teachers includes so many amazing resources from educators around the world.  I am so lucky to have been a part of this journey for 6 years and to have worked with so many talented teachers.  I am beyond blessed!

I am so lucky to have started this blog and to connect with all of you. So.. for my fourth grade teachers (since that is the current grade I am teaching ;) ) I wanted to share with you 5 fourth grade freebies on TPT that are great downloads.  Don't forget to leave the sellers kind feedback!

1. Need 4th Grade Common Core Math Checklists... for free? :) Check out TeachLiveDream's great freebie! Very simple and readable and student friendly with "I Can" statements.  

2. Idea for back to school? Class newspaper! Love this idea from Laura Leppke :) 

3. I love this freebie from Create-Abilities - I know for sure my students need the review for two-step word problems :)


4. Perfect review for Geometry from I Want to Be a Super Teacher - can be used at multiple grade levels.


5. Figurative Language posters full of info from Kirsten's Kaboodle :)


I hope you enjoyed these freebies! XO Have a great day!

Classroom Setup 2016-2017

I will be going into my 8th year of teaching in September.  I am at a new school and a new grade level.  This summer has been full of hard work and continuous effort.  I have worked with many wonderful children in a literacy summer program and tutoring.  I can't believe that summer is coming to a close and I haven't had a day to relax, but to be in the wonderful district I am, made all worth the hard work!  My journey and teaching path are no accident.  I am exactly where I am supposed to be.

So I will be teaching fourth grade for the 2016-2017 school year.  I haven't taught 4th grade in some years, but I can't wait to provide care and authentic experiences for my fourth graders!

What do you think? There is still time to jazz it up a little more, but this is the basic gist  :) 

Can we say books?! Holy moly.  After many hours of work, all of the books are now categorized with specific labels and ready for the children to read.  Lots of choices! :)  

 Our daily subject board and jobs.  You can find this adorable "Pencil me in" job chart HERE! I am going to be laminating and rotating names for the jobs.

 

Below are some of my subject bulletin boards that I will be adding to and changing throughout the year.  Crayfish and Geography are two of the first units that I will teach for Science and Social Studies.  I am excited to have lots of wall space for each subject area!

 Here are my Genre posters from Really Good Stuff and I LOVED these motivational posters.  This TPT freebie can be found HERE from Teaches Third in Georgia!

 My reading nook is one of my favorite areas in my classroom.  I love my 6 Traits of Writing Posters, my RACE sign from Fourth Grade Flipper, and my Text Evidence freebie I found that would look awesome in color (but I printed in black and white.)

My classroom won't be on Pinterest and all of my bins do not match.  I don't have the latest and greatest bulletin boards, but as the years continue and I develop more of a supply for décor, this is what it'll look like.  And I like it.  Sure I would love to have the chalkboard designs and all black bulletin boards matching and all of my bins to be labeled.  But for right now, it's all good!

I wish you all a wonderful 2016-2017 school year.  Make it the best year ever. :)

TPT Sale, Giveaway, and Freebies

Hello everyone.. it's been so long since I've blogged. How has life been for all of you? I know many of you are in your new classrooms or getting ready to head back to school.  In New York, we go back to school at the beginning of September, so I am right about in the middle of my summer vacation right now.  I wanted to share some freebies with you that I have used for my tutoring this summer -

For my going into 4th grade student, these products have been awesome!-

 

From Fifth in the Middle, her close reading packs are so enriched with interesting topics.  Here is a sample close reading of Martin Luther King, Jr.

From Math Tech Connections, this great Bookmark Book Report freebie can be used for fiction and nonfiction (two types included) - enjoy!

For my going into second grade tutoring students, these products have been so helpful.

From Read Like a Rock Star, I love this close reading product - perfect for readers that are leaving first grade :)

From Brittney Marie, there are Reading Comprehension passages on different levels for you to try with your kiddos.  My students love highlighting in different colors the text evidence that they find. 

I hope you enjoy those freebies!

 

I have my TPT store on SALE 20% off of EVERYTHING as many of us start thinking about Back to School and heading back into the groove.  The sale will be from 7/24-7/26 :) I also would like to do an appreciation giveaway - if you are a new teacher or would like to add to your teacher binder, I am giving away 3 copies of my Teacher Guide Unit - Please enter the Rafflecopter below!! Giveaway will run until 7/28 :) Thank you so much for your continued love and support!  Happy Shopping and Back to School!

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway