Have a great Monday evening!
Monday, November 18, 2013
Science Holiday Challenge Freebie
I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I am planning ahead….especially in Science. Every year that I have taught Science, I have sent home a little Science Holiday Challenge to help the kids review Science concepts over the break. In years past, I have offered extra credit for completing this activity, but now that my district has gone to standards based report cards, extra credit is not needed. So, this year, I plan to use this activity as a review during that CUH-RAZY week before the Christmas break. I added this file to my TpT store as a freebie for you to download. I hope that your kids love it as much as mine have in the past! I love a little "holiday" science! If you download it, I would love to know what you think. :) Just click on the picture below to check it out for yourself.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Teachers Thanking Teachers Giveaway
I am SO excited to be teaming up with 15 of my upper elementary blogging friends for an AWESOME giveaway. We are each sharing what we are thankful for and personally giving some fantastic prizes. We are also doing 3 BIG $100 gift card giveaway to Amazon, Target, or TpT!
There are many different giveaways to enter. Here is how to start entering to win.
#1- First, I would love for you to enter my giveaway. I am thankful for many things, but I think this year I am MOST thankful for the time I am able to share with family and friends. I am afforded extra time because of TpT and all of the AMAZING product that are available. By being able to find quality products to use in my classroom, it saves me precious time while lesson planning. I am giving away a $25 gift certificate to TpT and $25 worth of products from my store. It is my hope that I can share with you the gift of time so you can enjoy doing the things you LOVE to do!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
#2- Here is the BIG giveaway this week:
Good luck!
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Giveaway Fun!!!
Click on the image above to hop over to Deb's blog and enter her 1000 TpT follower giveaway! I and several other TpT sellers have donated resources to Deb's giveaway, so there's lots to be won!
(Click on any image to be taken to the seller's store.)
Raffle #1
One winner will receive all of this:
Ms. Fultz's Corner blog
Teacher's Take-Out blog
Raffle #1
One winner will receive all of this:
Raffle #2
One winner will receive all of this:
Good luck!
Graphic Credits:
Mini-Me by The Library Fox
Bubbles Background by Krista Wallden
Frame by Lovin Lit
Font by Teaches Third in Georgia
Friday, October 4, 2013
All Things Interactive Giveaway!!!!
Are you interested in winning Interactive Materials for your classroom? Now is your chance!
Click to take a look at the prizes
and the
awesome TpT sellers offering
them to all of you!
Get a closer look at their blogs by
clicking
on the links below the pictures.
:)
*Nicole will give away the notebook of the winner's choice!
*Deb will be donating these five products that would work PERFECTLY in
any interactive project!
*Jennifer will be donating the fourth or fifth grade notebook of your
choice!
Have FuN checking out our links, but
please remember that can only enter this giveaway on one blog!
Please do not enter on multiple blogs, as it is all "going into
the same pot!" :)
Thank you for your
participation...now it's time to get started!
Enter AwAy!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Theme-Filled Cupcake, Anyone? {GIVEAWAY!}
Hi there!
Deb here... I am so excited to be guest blogging for Nicole today! Nicole and I first connected several months ago for the first time, when she was kind enough to notify me of a small problem with a resource I had posted at my TpT store. From there, we have traded emails back and forth occasionally… and I am always SUPER excited when I see her name appear when I am updated that someone has purchased one of my resources. Nicole Shelby has purchased something from me?! I’m sure you can all relate to the “star-struck” nature of my statement! However, I can just see Nicole herself wincing as she reads this. I am fairly certain that she would say that she is no different than you and I – simply a teacher doing her best to do whatever she can to influence the lives and futures of the students placed in her classroom year after year. :)
Okay, I digressed a bit there; back to the task at hand! I asked Nicole if she would allow me to guest blog today about the ELA concept of theme. Actually, if you would have talked to me a year ago, you never would have heard me say I wanted to write about this particular educational concept. I’ve always considered theme to be a challenge to teach, simply because of the “abstract” nature of it. Whereas plot, main idea, and context clues are pretty “concrete”, theme definitely requires a mental jump to some higher-level thinking, which frankly can be a challenge for some students.
That all changed, though, when I (with the help of my twin sister who is not a teacher, believe it or not) came up with the idea to use a crème-filled cupcake to help teach theme! Theme-filled cupcakes! WooHoo! I thought, I think I’m on to something here! Not only do we have the rhyming thing going on, but the analogy is perfect! Like the crème filling of a cupcake, the theme of a story is not explicitly stated in most cases. Rather, the theme is the hidden message (or deeper meaning) that the author is intending to convey.
Once I came up with this analogy, I was on a mission! Out came the craftivity…. Out came the PowerPoint… Out came the task cards… Out came the worksheets… all with the same theme-filled cupcake analogy, making a nifty little memorable visualization that students can use to associate with the definition of theme.
Craftivity, you may ask? I love craftivities! (Hence the name of my blog - Crafting Connections.) Check out my recent post at All Things Upper Elementary for more information about what they are and why I love them for upper elementary learners. (While you’re there, pick up my Idioms & Hyperbole craftivity for FREE! I’m extending the free download (available exclusively there) for another week - so you can get it through next Sunday, September 22.)
My Theme-Filled Cupcakes Craftivity resource includes four short stores. Students read each short story and then determine its theme. From there, they assemble their cupcakes, complete with the “hidden” theme filling! Suffice it to say that for the first time in all my years of teaching, I am actually excited to teach Theme in my classroom this coming year!
But wait… I am on Nicole Shelby’s blog! I simply cannot write on her blog without making some sort of reference to interactive notebooks… It just wouldn’t be right! :) I am using Nicole’s Fourth Grade Interactive Reading Notebook resource this year, and these theme-filled cupcakes will make an appearance in my students’ notebooks. I intend to make an extra set of photocopied cupcake elements for each student. For the interactive notebook entry, I will instruct them to label the cupcake graphic as the overall story, and then write their own description for theme in a filling circle. Then I will have them glue these elements in their notebook (just as they did for their craftivity, shown in the photo above). Further, rather than gluing the entire set of four cupcakes from the craftivity onto the construction paper, I will instruct them to choose one to glue onto the next page in their interactive notebook. This, of course, will give them a visual reminder of theme to refer back to throughout the year.
Let’s finish this with some fun! Let’s do a raffle giveaway! One winner will receive my Theme BUNDLE (which includes the craftivity, several worksheets, task cards, a PowerPoint, and a 7-day lesson plan)! (Of course, if you choose to purchase this bundle right away, and then later win the giveaway, I will certainly give you $12 worth of products of your choice from my TpT store!)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Before I leave you to make the most of the rest of your day, I invite you to check out my blog – Crafting Connections – I’d be absolutely honored to have one of Nicole Shelby’s followers as my own as well!
Thanks so much for spending some of your time with me today,
Deb here... I am so excited to be guest blogging for Nicole today! Nicole and I first connected several months ago for the first time, when she was kind enough to notify me of a small problem with a resource I had posted at my TpT store. From there, we have traded emails back and forth occasionally… and I am always SUPER excited when I see her name appear when I am updated that someone has purchased one of my resources. Nicole Shelby has purchased something from me?! I’m sure you can all relate to the “star-struck” nature of my statement! However, I can just see Nicole herself wincing as she reads this. I am fairly certain that she would say that she is no different than you and I – simply a teacher doing her best to do whatever she can to influence the lives and futures of the students placed in her classroom year after year. :)
Okay, I digressed a bit there; back to the task at hand! I asked Nicole if she would allow me to guest blog today about the ELA concept of theme. Actually, if you would have talked to me a year ago, you never would have heard me say I wanted to write about this particular educational concept. I’ve always considered theme to be a challenge to teach, simply because of the “abstract” nature of it. Whereas plot, main idea, and context clues are pretty “concrete”, theme definitely requires a mental jump to some higher-level thinking, which frankly can be a challenge for some students.
That all changed, though, when I (with the help of my twin sister who is not a teacher, believe it or not) came up with the idea to use a crème-filled cupcake to help teach theme! Theme-filled cupcakes! WooHoo! I thought, I think I’m on to something here! Not only do we have the rhyming thing going on, but the analogy is perfect! Like the crème filling of a cupcake, the theme of a story is not explicitly stated in most cases. Rather, the theme is the hidden message (or deeper meaning) that the author is intending to convey.
Once I came up with this analogy, I was on a mission! Out came the craftivity…. Out came the PowerPoint… Out came the task cards… Out came the worksheets… all with the same theme-filled cupcake analogy, making a nifty little memorable visualization that students can use to associate with the definition of theme.
 |
| Theme-Filled Cupcake Craftivity finished product |
My Theme-Filled Cupcakes Craftivity resource includes four short stores. Students read each short story and then determine its theme. From there, they assemble their cupcakes, complete with the “hidden” theme filling! Suffice it to say that for the first time in all my years of teaching, I am actually excited to teach Theme in my classroom this coming year!
 |
| The "theme" filling is hidden inside! |
But wait… I am on Nicole Shelby’s blog! I simply cannot write on her blog without making some sort of reference to interactive notebooks… It just wouldn’t be right! :) I am using Nicole’s Fourth Grade Interactive Reading Notebook resource this year, and these theme-filled cupcakes will make an appearance in my students’ notebooks. I intend to make an extra set of photocopied cupcake elements for each student. For the interactive notebook entry, I will instruct them to label the cupcake graphic as the overall story, and then write their own description for theme in a filling circle. Then I will have them glue these elements in their notebook (just as they did for their craftivity, shown in the photo above). Further, rather than gluing the entire set of four cupcakes from the craftivity onto the construction paper, I will instruct them to choose one to glue onto the next page in their interactive notebook. This, of course, will give them a visual reminder of theme to refer back to throughout the year.Let’s finish this with some fun! Let’s do a raffle giveaway! One winner will receive my Theme BUNDLE (which includes the craftivity, several worksheets, task cards, a PowerPoint, and a 7-day lesson plan)! (Of course, if you choose to purchase this bundle right away, and then later win the giveaway, I will certainly give you $12 worth of products of your choice from my TpT store!)a Rafflecopter giveaway
Before I leave you to make the most of the rest of your day, I invite you to check out my blog – Crafting Connections – I’d be absolutely honored to have one of Nicole Shelby’s followers as my own as well! Thanks so much for spending some of your time with me today,
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
A Chance to Win.....Yes, Please!!!!
Nothing says back to school like school supplies. I love the smell of freshly sharpened pencils and the sight of opening a box of 64 crayons all perfectly lined up. As a kid, I didn't even want to use my crayons because I didn't want to mess with their beautiful perfection. You are a teacher, you know exactly what I am talking about. :)
To prepare for school this year, I had a few school supplies that were on my MUST HAVE list. I have a desk drawer full of pens, but Flair pens are my absolute favorite. I have ALL sorts of colors! They are perfect for grading papers. I just LOVE to write with them!!!
SO, why I am telling you all of this???? Because I have teamed up with Rachel Lynette from Minds in Bloom and a few other blogging buddies to offer this AWESOME give away for teachers. How would you like to win a $200 gift card from Staples? I am sure the answer is YES!!!!! So for chances to win, all you have to do is enter with the Rafflecopter below.
A few rules for you to remember:
* You must be a U.S. resident to enter.
* Although I am hosting this with a group of several bloggers, you need to only enter through one of the blogs because the Rafflecopter is the same for all blogs. :)
Good luck to you all!!!! I would love to hear what you would purchase if you won the $200 gift card from Staples! Leave your comments below. :)
Thanks for stopping by and entering!
Sunday, August 18, 2013
TpT Back to School Sale
Yes, I am sure you are like me and have anxiously awaited the TpT Back to School Sale!!!! It's finally here. All of the products including my popular Reading and Language Interactive Notebooks are 20% off. If you were thinking about purchasing these, now is the time! Check them out at my TpT store here or click on the picture below to visit my store.
So, I would love to know....what's in your cart? What are some of your TpT MUST HAVES?
So, I would love to know....what's in your cart? What are some of your TpT MUST HAVES?
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