Fifty Shades of Crafts

Okay, I have been missing in action for a little bit, but I have a GOOD excuse!  We have been out of school for a little over a week.  During that time, the LAST thing on my mind has been school.  I have been totally engrossed in the Fifty Shades of Grey books.  I finished book three today and I have to admit I loved them!  If you have not read them, I would recommend them; however, I will say, they are not for the faint at heart.  I am really hope that there is a movie for the books.  I already have the perfect Christian picked out.  Tell me what you think, ladies!  Is Ian Somerhalder the perfect actor to play him or what? 

After I finished the book this morning, I decided I was going to make a trip to Hobby Lobby.  I have been thinking about my classroom decor for the new school year.  I have decided to go with a black and white polka dot with lime green and hot pink accents.  So anyway, I thought I would see if I could find anything cute for my room.  I was also on a mission because I found this really cute wreath on Pinterest and wanted to make it. 

While I was shopping,  I came across these cute pink and green baskets.  These puppies were only $2.29 a piece.  I thought that was a real bargain, so I bought six of them....one for each of my tables. 

To doll them up a little, I bought some black and white polka dot ribbon go on them.  I simply weaved the ribbon through the little holes and hot glued the ends in place.  Then I attached a bow on the front.  I thought they turned out really cute.  :)

Okay and last but not least....the whole reason I went to Hobby Lobby was the purchase the supplies to make this wreath.  I got the idea from Pinterest.  It was from Miss Kranz's website.  I just simply used the colors in my classroom.  The green is a lime green and looks a little light in the photo, but it matches perfectly in person. 

I guess you could say that I have been fairly productive today.  :)  I plan to work on novel study tomorrow and hopefully I will have it posted sometime early next week. 

Well, I kind of have a headache.  I think it was all the paint!  I am going to take a Tylenol and head to bed.  Good evening!

One Lovely Blog

Thanks to Liliris at Fourth Grade Garden for passing on the One Lovely Blog Award to me!  Check out her blog.  She has a ton of cute ideas!  :) 

There are a few simple rules to receiving this award: 

1) Follow the person that gave you the award. 

2) Link back to the person that gave you the award. 

3) Pass the award to on to 15 new bloggers.

So here are the 15 new blogs that I am passing it to: 

1. No Monkey Business

2. Super Second Graders

3. Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher

4. Creative Classroom

5. Mrs. Winter's Pre-K Paradise

6. Sweet Tea Classroom

7. Classroom Magic

8. Awesome in 1st

9. Buzzing with Ms. B

10. Ginger Snaps

11. Hopkins Hoppin' Happenings

12. Teaching4Real

13. Making It Teacher

14. Tales from Outside the Classroom

15. Tales from a Very Busy Teacher

All of these blogs are SO cute and I am sure that you will love them as much as I do!  :) 

Happy Blog Hopping! 

Testing, Testing, Testing!

Well, I don't have any exciting pictures to post because we started our state accountability testing today.  Ugh!  I hate it!  I would so much rather be teaching instead of walking around the room.  Anyway, we are testing in the mornings and working on Mother's Day gifts in the afternoons.  I purchased Reagan Tunstall's Oh Momma Mother's Day packet.  I totally LOVE it!  There are so many activities to choose from.  We are making a lemon scrub for our Moms this week.  I will post pictures of that.  In the meantime, you might want to grab this adorable packet while it's on sale.  Click here to check it out! 

Don't forget about the Teacher Appreciation Sale!  Tomorrow is the last day to get the bargains!  I did a lot of shopping yesterday, but plan to do some more tonight.  LOL!  Also, don't forget the extra 10% off code TAD12.  Happy Shopping!

Teacher Appreciation Jackpot Giveaway

I am so excited to announce that my free jackpot giveaway item is my Point of View Instructional Resource Packet.  This was a requested item from one of my blog followers.  Click on the picture below to snag this normally $5 item for free.  I would love for you to leave positive feedback if you download this item! :) 

Remember this event was coordinated by the bloggers shown below:

• PK - Grade 2 - April McNair on A Modern Teacher
• Grades 3 - 6 - Laura Candler on Corkboard Connections
• Grades 7 - 12 - Adrianne Meldrum on The Tutor House

Look below to find links to over three dozen terrific Grade 3-6 blogs where you can download your free gifts for today only! We appreciate your commitment to your students and your dedication as an educator! It's our pleasure to give away something for free, and many of us will also be offering 20% off our whole store from from May 6th through the 8th. Thanks so much for all you do!

Testing Motivation Posters

In Kentucky elementary schools, the students in 3rd-5th grades take the state accountability assessments. Obviously, we want our students to do their best on the test, so we usually have some kind of testing pep rally to encourage the kids. Well, a couple of years ago, we decided to recruit motivation from the parents as well. We ask the parents to make motivational posters to encourage their kids. The posters are hung in the classroom for the students to look at during testing.

Now the exciting part of the whole thing is that the posters are a SECRET! Almost all of my students' parents have email, so typically I send an email requesting the poster and explaining the surprise. For those parents that do not have email, I send a letter in a sealed envelope.

This week, the parents dropped the posters off in the school office. Then yesterday after school, I hung all of the posters in the classroom so they will be ready for the kids when they come in on Monday morning. They are going to love them! Here are some pictures of the posters from this year. They are SO cute! You can see that the parents went to a lot of work to include their child's interests on the posters. I know they are going to mean so much to the kids. I CAN'T wait to see the kids' faces when they see them. 

Update:  If I have a student that does not have a poster, I make one for the student.  I want all students to have a poster.  :) 

 If you would like a copy of the letter that I send to the parents, you can click on the picture below.  I left it generic, so you can add your information if you want to use it in your classroom. 

Have a great weekend!  And don't forget about the BIG TpT sale this weekend!  I have my cart full and ready to checkout.  I can't wait!  :)  

TpT Teacher Appreciation Sale and Jackpot

You probably already know about the Teacher Appreciation Jackpot going on this Sunday, an event in which you can download over $500 worth of products for free! However, each blogger is only giving away one free item, and you'll probably see lots of goodies you liked to have when you visit their stores. The good news is that TeachersPayTeachers is having a huge sale from Sunday through Tuesday, and many stores including mine will be on sale for as much as 28% off if you use the promo code TAD12.

I will be throwing a sale for Teacher Appreciation Week as another way to show my appreciation for educators. My products will be 20% off from May 6th-8th. Teachers give so much of themselves on a daily basis, and it only seemed right to offer a discount on lessons, units, and materials that will save them time and effort. You can check out my store here.

I am so excited to announce that my free jackpot giveaway item is my Point of View Instructional Resource Packet.  This was a requested item from one of my blog followers.  Click on the picture below to snag this normally $5 item for free.  I would love for you to leave positive feedback if you download this item! :) 

You can bet that my cart is FULL and ready to go!  I plan to take full advantage of the BIG sale!  :) 

Happy Shopping! 

Teacher Appreciation Jackpot

Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week, and Sunday, May 6th is sure to be your lucky day! I'm excited to announce the very first Teacher Appreciation Jackpot, an amazing "blog hop" event involving over 125 bloggers! This page is your starting point for the Grades 3 - 6 blog hop, and you can find links to the other levels in this blog post.

All of us wanted to show our appreciation for you in a BIG way, so we've agreed to give away one of our TeachersPayTeachers products for free on Sunday! Each free gift will be valued at between $3 and $8, so the total jackpot amount is estimated to be over $500! We'll post the actual amount on Saturday, May 5th.

I am so excited to announce that my free jackpot giveaway item is my Point of View Instructional Resource Packet.  This was a requested item from one of my blog followers.  Click on the picture below to snag this normally $5 item for free.  I would love for you to leave positive feedback if you download this item! :) 

Because so many bloggers are participating, this event is divided into three grade level groups. Each of those smaller events is being coordinated by one blogger as shown below:

• PK - Grade 2 - April McNair on A Modern Teacher
• Grades 3 - 6 - Laura Candler on Corkboard Connections
• Grades 7 - 12 - Adrianne Meldrum on The Tutor House

The big day is not until Sunday, but why not take a look at the items in my TeachersPayTeachers store right now? You've probably heard that there's going to be a massive sale on TpT in honor of  Teacher Appreciation week, so feel free to load up your shopping cart now. You don't have to worry that you may end up paying for an item if I make it free; if a product in your cart later becomes free, you won't pay anything for it at checkout. Trust me on this!

Look below to find links to over three dozen terrific Grade 3-6 blogs where you can download your free gifts on Sunday! We appreciate your commitment to your students and your dedication as an educator! It's our pleasure to give away something for free, and many of us will also be offering 20% off our whole store from from May 6th through the 8th. Thanks so much for all you do!