Another Manic Monday & Giveaway Reminder

Once again, I am linking up with Charity over at Classroom Freebies.  I am so excited to see what everyone else has to offer, as well as get more blog exposure.  If you have a freebie you want to share, click on the button below to head over.

Today I am sharing a freebie that is great for the end of the year!  It is coming to the time where the children no longer have shining halos.  Instead, their little heads may begin to sprout horns.  Enter the Mystery Message.  That is what I call my version of this behavior management tool.  I have seen these on Pinterest as well.  They could be called other things too, but I call my version the Mystery Message.  All you have to do is print these cards, cut, glue them to pretty paper (or leave them as white cards), laminate, and arrange them on the board or wall space to say CrAfTy CuPcAkEs!  When students are all on their best behavior, walking in the hall quietly, or doing something that makes you PROUD, flip over a letter.  In my room, the rules are once you figure out the message, you cannot say it aloud.  If someone tells the secret mystery message, then it will disappear.  When all of the letters are exposed, the students can read/shout it out together.  Then, the very next day, the students get the reward.  Crafty Cupcakes is not one that I came up with on my own.  I was inspired by Teri at A Cupcake for the Teacher for this Mystery Message idea.  Be sure to check out her post to see all the great toppings the children got to use to craft their cupcakes!  Here's the Mystery Message letters for you!  I promise they are cuter when you download!

Crafty Cupcakes

And be sure to go to my last post and follow my blog and leave a comment to be entered to win a $20 gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers or Amazon.com!  Until next time:>!

Wacky War Math Center & A Giveaway

Happy Thursday!  Only one more day until the weekend and I am sure you all, like me, are super excited!  Today I am linking up with Laura at Corkboard Connections: Super Math Centers Linky Party.  This game is something I shared over at Klinger Cafe as a guest blogger and I wanted the chance to share it on my own blog too.  Now is the perfect opportunity. 

The game is called Wacky War.  It is played exactly like the card game war, but with an added twist.  Instead of having the person with the higher number keep the cards, the person who can give the sum or product first, depending on grade level, gets to keep the cards!  There are two versions, one for addition and one for addition or multiplication.  The first set I created, for addition only, has my own version of a tens frame for those kindergarten and first grade friends who may need a visual to help them add the two numbers together.  This set goes to ten.  The second set can be used for addition or multiplication because they have a star in the middle of the card that has nothing to do with the number on the actual card.  They just add a little fancy.  This set goes to twelve. 
Cards

Multiplication Cards

Hopefully you can use one of these versions of Wacky War! 

Now, onto the giveaway!  I am very excited because I recently hit 100 followers!  To celebrate, I am giving away a $20 gift card.  The winner will have their choice of a gift certificate from either

Teachers Pay Teachers

OR

Amazon.com

There are two ways to enter.  Follow my blog and leave a comment and/or blog about this giveaway on your blog and leave a comment.  Totally easy right?!  And who couldn't use a gift certificate to one of these two awesome places?!  The giveaway will end one week from today, Thursday, May 3rd.   Good luck to all who enter!

Pinterest Blogger Exchange Treasures & Tippy Tuesday!

Hello bloggy friends!  Before I share this weeks Tippy Tuesday Tip, I wanted to share the crafts I sent to my Pinterest Blogger Exchange partner, as well as the treasures that were sent to me.  First, this is what I sent to Ms Jennifer White from First Grade Blue Skies.

This is a photo frame used as a Post-It holder.  I absolutely love the colors!

This is a picture frame that I spray painted.  I added the scrapbook paper to make a pretty background and spray painted the magnetic clip as well.  I added the clip with a little hot glue and voila!  An easy to update photo frame! 

These are the 3 (yes 3!) treasures that I got today from Sharon McBee over at Ms. McBee's Kinderbugs.  She sent me a Post-It note holder which is perfect for me because I can never find them when I need them.  She also sent me a picture frame and a crayon pencil holder.  I have always wanted to make a crayon craft like this, but was a little chicken.  I love the one she sent!  And they all have rainbow ribbon on them.  That is perfect for me because I love bright colors and patterns!   Thanks Ms. McBee!

And this is today's Tippy Tuesday Tip.  I have taught kindergarten and first grade.  Sometimes students in these grades have trouble with finger spacing.  There are so many options of how to help students make finger spaces, but these are a few of mine.  The first is a wiggly eye hot glued to a popsicle stick.  I like to call this the wiggly eye that helps see where finger spaces are needed.  The second is a bingo dobber.  Once taught the proper procedure for using bingo dobbers, students can use a bingo dot for their space marker.  The last idea in the picture is a fake fingernail hot glued to a popsicle stick.  It may look a little silly, but students love using these to help them make finger spaces.  Sometimes just having these tools on their desk can help students remember finger spaces without needing to actually use them. 

And that is all for today.  I made another trip to the dentist today and got two more cavities filled.  Nine down, one to go!

Manic Monday Freebie!

Tonight I am linking up with Charity Preston's Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies.  What an awesome way to share freebies with so many!  So if you have a fab freebie be sure to go link up!


 

This freebie was inspired by two things.  First, I was inspired by the book called Maybe A Bear Ate It! by Robie H. Harris.  I just purchased it from Scholastic Book Clubs, but it is also available at Amazon.com.  It's cute and inspires a love for books!

My second inspiration came from, of course, Pinterest.  I found a Mad Lib today and had an AHA moment.  I used to love to do Mad Libs and thought maybe children today would like to as well. So without further ado here's what you all are here for!  I have yet to figure out GoogleDocs, so Scribd is what I am using for now.  If you have any tips for using GoogleDocs, feel free to leave a comment!

Maybe A Bear Ate It!

Happy Manic Monday!

Field Day Fun Ideas

Hey everybody.  Happy Sunday!  Blogger has officially changed, making it seem so complicated:>!  Hopefully I can get it all figured out!  Anywho, I would love to make a Field Day Fun packet full of ideas for field day.  I like to have field day at the end of the year when everybody needs a break.  I plan to do some Internet research to find ideas. Just curious, do any of you, my bloggy friends, have any ideas to add to the book?  I will make sure to give the creator credit!  Leave a comment with any ideas!  I will hopefully post it by the end of this week.  Have a great week!

Pinterest Project

Isn't it fantastic?!?!  I am participating in A Very Pinteresting Spring Exchange through the Teacher Blogger Exchange and this is one of the two crafts I am making for my exchange partner.  This is actually the one I made for me.  The one I made for her I will have to share after the exchange.  But I think it is even cuter than mine!

And what do a wiggly eye, a meatball, a bingo dobber, and a fake fingernail have in common?  Check back tomorrow to find out:>!

Pinterest Exchange

Does anyone else get really stressed about participating in the Teacher Blogger Exchange?  I love participating, giving and receiving a gift.  However, I get super duper stressed about finding the perfect gift for my partner.  And then, after I figure it out, I have to make sure every detail is perfect.  Well this time around is even more stressful because it has to be created by me!  Deep breaths.  Super nervous.  I know I should pick something already, but I want it to be just perfect.  Does anyone else have such issues or am I all alone?! 

What I'm Pinning Wednesday

Today I am linking up with Laura at Kinder Kraziness to share some of my favorite pins from this week!

First up is a great anchor chart from Abby at The Inspired Apple!  I know you all know about her fantabulous artistic abilities!  Where does she (and all you others out there) get the artsy fartsy ability?!  Most importantly, where can I pick some up?  What store?  Because I need them ASAP!







Next up is the perfect solution for not having carpet squares!  In my last classroom, I had one of those fabulous carpets with the rows and boxes, so each student got their own square.  In my next classroom, I fear I won't have that carpet for management.  So I love these ViveVita My Spot spots.  I think students could put these in their cubbies and grab them when it is time to sit together as a class.  Plus, they are cute and colorful.  What's not to like?!

And lastly is a great organizational pin from Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas!  It is a way to organize read alouds by author and month.  I have wondered many times about how other teachers organize their read alouds.  This is just one example.  Does anyone else have a great way to organize read alouds?  I would love more ideas for organizing these books!



And that's all for today!  If you have some great pins to share, be sure to link up with Laura!





Tippy Tuesday~All About Numbers

I have seen so many great All About Numbers activity pages flying around on blogs and Pinterest too!  However, today I discovered an All About Numbers activity that makes a great center and I was SUPER excited!  I found the idea for creating an All About Numbers center at Make, Take & Teach, one of my new absolute favorite blogs!  Julie, the blogger, is a fellow Northern Michigan gal and I am so glad I found her.  She shares such great stuff and I love her Cookie Sheet Challenge, which is sort of where this idea stems from. 

The idea is to use an Oil Drip Pan as a giant cookie sheet.  Julie used her Oil Drip Pan as an alphabet center, which is pretty awesome.  However, she posted a friends All About Numbers math center, which is new to me as a center, and I fell in love. 

This particular center comes from Sweet Life of Teaching!  Isn't it FAB?!?!  If you haven't checked out these gals yet, you should.  They've got a lot going on!  And now I am off.  I may challenge myself to come up with as many ideas as possible for using popsicle sticks.  Check back for next weeks Tippy Tuesday post on that!  But of course, come back before then too!





Guest Blogger Debut & A Freebie Too!

I am making my guest blogger debut today over at Klinger Cafe!  If you have a chance, go check it out.  I blogged about a great math game called Wacky War and left a freebie!  Happy Monday to all!

End of the Year Activity Freebie & Question

I had planned to create a sample to go with this little freebie, but life got away from me these last few days.  So here is a freebie that would work great for the end of the year!  It is a little speech bubble activity asking students to write about their favorite part of the year in their current grade level.  I created a page for each grade level, kindergarten through forth grade.  Then display these activities for next years students at Open House in the hallway or a display board to give them an idea of what they have to look forward to!  You could display them on some sort of fancy scrapbook paper if you use the full sheet or the students could create themselves out of construction paper and just use the speech bubble.  If you wanted to be totally awesome, you could also take photos of the students and attach them!  Any way you want to do it would be spectacular I am sure!

Flower from www.scrappindoodles.com!

My Favorite...Freebie

And before I go, I suddenly am following no blogs on blogger.  Can anyone tell me what in the world happened?  Or at least venture a guess?  Weird! 

Happy Easter to all!

So Many Giveaways...

There are so many FABULOUS giveaways going on out in blogland right now. And though I am hesitant to share because I would love to win them all myself, I know you all would probably love the chance as well! So here are just a few that are floating around!

Jenn Bates @ Finally in First is having a Giveaway A Day for five days to count down to her spring break. She is giving away some awesome products, including a HearALL Assessment Recorder from Learning Resources!  Heidi from Swamp Frog First Graders is also giving away a Learning Resources product, the Easy Speak USB Recorder.  Teri over at A Cupcake for the Teacher is also having a giveaway!  She has just hit 1000 followers in four months!  To celebrate, she is giving away 10 prizes to ten different winners.  And you can have up to 10 entries!  And I just have to include her little picture because it is adorable!

 

There are so many great things you could do with all of these products! Too fabulous!  So if you haven't already entered these three giveaways, go do so now! You could win something fabulous. I would say I am cheering for you, however, I am cheering for myself! I have never won a giveaway and would probably faint if I did!

Tippy Tuesday

Is anyone else super excited that it is makeover week on The Biggest Loser tonight?!?!  Only 50 more minutes until it starts.  I love the show, especially trainer Bob Harper!  So this post shall be a quick one.

Today's Tippy Tuesday tip comes from Deborah at Teach Preschool.  She created the DIY Yarn Machine for use in her preschool classroom and I think it would be great for primary classrooms too!  It is easy, requires few supplies, and is super cheap!  Instead of leaving yarn in a drawer to become all tangled up (am I the only one?), she uses empty, small cube shaped tissue boxes to keep her yarn neat.  One ball of yarn is placed in the box, a small hole is poked through the side, and the yarn is pulled through.  Then students, or the teacher, can pull the amount of yarn needed and cut it off, leaving a small amount left to pull through next time.  For those using more than one color at a time, she suggests taping the boxes together.  So smart!

And that is all for now.  Have a great week all!

Currently April

For the first time ever on my little blog here, I am posting twice in one day!  Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade is having her Currently Linky Party and I just could not wait!  Here it is!

I would love the super power that makes all food that is deliciously unhealthy magically healthy.  As much ice cream, chips, and chocolate as I want?  I am in!  What would your super power be?  Link up to share!  (I kept it short.  I'm not in trouble right?)

A Little Random & A Linky!

Hey all. Happy Spring Break to many Michigan teachers! Today, I went back to work at the movie theater I worked at for ten years while in high school, college, and my first two years of teaching. Being laid off right now, I am forced to work again this summer. It won't make me millions, but I will make some cash and go to the movies for free! The added benefits of as much popcorn, pop, and candy as I want is both a positive and negative.

Anywho, that's the reason that I have a lunch to pack on a Sunday. And that allows me to join up in the lunch box linky party thrown by Tara from 4th Grade Frolics.  As usual, I'm late to the party, but better late then never.



Here's my lunch for today. It's very similar to what I would take for lunch when teaching!

Sorry it is kind of blurry as well as boring!  The bag is cute though!  It is from Thirty-One, like so many other lunch boxes and totes that I have already seen in this linky.  As far as food, I had Quaker Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon, a strawberry banana yogurt, a Nature Valley Granola Thin, and a green apple.  I don't enjoy red apples.  Yuck!  It seems like a lot of food, but it keeps me from snacking on popcorn and candy.  It is so addicting once you start, so I am trying not to even start.  And as far as pop, I let myself have 8 ounces per week.  Crazy, I know, but I am trying to live a healthier lifestyle.  So today was a successful day as far as not eating movie theater junk, but we will see what happens when I begin to work more!

And that is it!  If you haven't linked up yet, it's okay to go link up now!  You can join me, late to the party!  Who doesn't love peeking at what others eat?  Happy Packing!