TPT Sale 28% Off, Great Deals for Back to School!

My Store and many others on Teachers Pay Teachers will be 28% off for the back to school sale this Sunday 8/17- Monday 8/18. Use code BTS13 I know I can't wait to get all those items on my wishlist!  Happy Shopping! 

Click here to check out the great deals!  

Does Your School Use CCSS?

First five comments, gets free TPT products!

Just curious, are you required to state the CCSS in your lesson plans?  I have added them to my lessons since my state adopted them, but so far it has not be "required" that I include them.  I personally think they are great and have helped me add more to my lessons.  I work with several different grade levels when working with my ELL students,  and I love being able to find all the standards in one place online.

I started developing these CCSS checklists and student rosters two years ago to help me with my planning. It has helped me pair units I already have to meet the CCSS.  The checklists are a great tool to plan for the year, and  the checklists help you progress monitor if each student has met the standard.  Come report card time, the rosters are so helpful!  Click here to check one out.

What are some great tools or products that you have found helpful in meeting the CCSS?  First five comments will get any of my CCSS products for free from my store

 

Back to School Fun and Freebie!

I can't believe it is back to school time already!  Some states have even been back for weeks!  Luckily due to maternity leavev, I won't have to return until the middle of October, but I still have been creating some new things to get to know my new students once I do return.  Since I work with ELL students, who are often reluctant to speak and share, I love to have ready to go get to know you sharing activities.   Something new this year, it a cute, fun printable All About ______ pages.  It  is great for older and younger students, there are 14 different girl or boy styles to choose from.  It can also be great for an open house activity with younger students and their parents.

I would love to hear what fun get to know you activities you did or plan to do for back to school.  For the first five comments, I will send the commenters one of these products for free!

Click here to get these pages

This book is great for younger students:

Click here to get this book.

Best Summer Yet!

It's been a busy summer, and definitely the best summer yet!  I started my summer a little bit early with the wonderful surprise of my little Maddie!  Madeline Elizabeth was born about 2 1/2 weeks early on May 27th, she was 6 lbs 7 oz and 19 1/4 inches.   So I did not make it to the end of the school year like I planned, but she was ready to meet mom and dad and everything went so well!  Here are the adorable professional pictures of from when she was 10 days old:

 

And here is my attempt at one month pictures at home, this was quite a feat to get a picture of her sitting up, lol! 

 

 

We have been thoroughly enjoying our summer, and don't want it to end!  Luckily I am off until October.  Hope you all are enjoying your summer as much as I am!  



Thank You for the Liebster Blog Nomination!

Thank you to Our K Crew Rocks for the Liebster blog nomination!  It has been a while since I have blogged for one very good little reason (I'll post about that soon!).  Here are the details of the Liebster nominations:

 The rules for receiving the award are as follows:

- Link back to the original nominator's website

- You must post 11 random things about yourself

- Answer the questions the nominator set for you

- Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate

- Nominate 5 - 11 blogs (with less than 200 followers) and link them in your post

 

Here are my eleven random thing about myself:

1.  I am currently an ELL teacher at two different schools, I love working with such a variety of students and teachers.

2.  Before I went to school for teaching I was active duty in the Navy for four years.

3.  I served as an Intelligence Specialist in the Navy.

4.  I love traveling- I have been all over the US, Hawaii, the Middle East, Australia, Mexico, Canada, and several places in the Caribbean. 

5.  I just celebrated my one year wedding anniversary, the cake topper was actually still pretty tasty! 

6.  I come from a pretty big family, I have three sisters, all of whom are my best friends! 

7.  One of my favorite outdoor hobbies is biking, I love my Scott hybrid bike!

8.  I love decorating, I spend way too much time at TJ Maxx Homegoods!

9.  If I wasn't a teacher, I would love to be a party planner or wedding planner.

10.  I love baking, but could care less about cooking meals, my husband luckily really likes to cook.

11.  I will have a  surprise blog post coming soon, watch for it! 

 

Here are may answers from the questions from  Our K Crew Rocks: 

1. If you could teach any grade level, which grade level would it be and why? I would love to teach 4K ELL students, I have done this for summer school the last few years, and it has been a blast! 

2. What is your favorite subject to teach and why? I love to teach Science Content, it is so hands-on and great for ELL students

3. Do you have a classroom theme? If so how often do you change themes? Not a theme so much, just lots of bright colors, polka dots, and chevron patterns all over.

4. What is your favorite thing about teaching? Working with a variety of students and families

5. How long have you been blogging? Just a few months, I would like to do a lot more next year

6. What is your favorite school related app or computer program to use? I love the Lakeshore Apps for younger students, and for grade 1 and up, I love this sight word app, it's a simple sight word recognition app, but as a warm up, I put on a timer, and we play "hot potato" with the ipad in small group. The kiddos love it! 

7. What is your favorite non-school related app or computer program to use? Pinterest, for sure! 

8. Do you have iPad's in your classroom? Only my personal one, but with small groups, it works well

9. What technology would you be lost without? My projector hooked up to my computer, ELL students are such visual learners, it's great to be able to bring up images

10. Do you have a Promethean Board or Smart Board in your classroom? Nope, I wish! 

11. What other types of technology do you have in your classroom? Teacher computer, Aver document projector, projector, and personal Ipad.

 

And now the blogs (some blogs may have a few more than 200 but no more than 400 followers) I have chosen to nominate for the Liebster Award are...

1.  The Wild Rumpus Blog

2.  The Applicious Teacher

3. Wild About Words

4.  Little Learners

5.  Teach, Blog, Repeat

 

 

Be sure to check out and follow these great blogs! 

 

Now, here are my 11 questions for the blogs I nominate::

 

1.  Do you have a favorite unit you do each year?

2.  What is your favorite classroom décor item you have bought or made?

3.  How many hours do you spend on TPT per week? LOL

4.  What is your favorite outdoor pastime?

5.  What is your favorite indoor pastime?

6.  Are you a TPT seller?  If so, where do you find inspiration for new products?

7.  How would your students describe you in three words?

8.  How long have you been teaching?

9.  Do you prefer to stay in the same grade level for your career, or switch every few years?

10.  What is your favorite read-aloud?

11.  If you were not a teacher, what would your chosen career be?

 

 

I look forward to seeing everyone's answers! 

 

 

 

Hands On Graphic Organizers for Writing

I love to use Graphic Organizers with all the writing we do!  Recently, I have been trying to incorporate using graphic organizers with even my youngest Kinder ELL students to support their writing.  One great way I found to do this was doing more hands-on organizers with which the students can practice organizing the information on a larger scale together. We recently did a mini-unit on the different animal groups.  We created this graphic organizer after reading our Animal Groups Emergent Reader and watching this excellent BrainPop Jr. video about animal classification.
Last, students wrote their own animal facts about their chosen group using these  awesome writing sheets from www.firstgradewindows.blogspot.com .The students were able to gain a lot of content vocabulary and loved the hands-on approach!   Please add comments on how you use graphic organizers with young students. 



 

BrainPop Video

 

Click here for the Book





 



Sale of theYear!

The Teacher Appreciation Sale is here!  Please join me in May 7th-8th for the HUGE Teacher Appreciation Sale!  Use code TAD13 for 10% off the entire site, my store is an additional 20% off, which makes all purchases from my store 28% off!  Stock up for the rest of this year and next!  Thanks to Zip-a-dee-doo-dah Designs for this awesome graphic!