1,000 Followers Giveaway!

Hello TLT Friends! I hope you are enjoying your weekend. It’s RIDICULOUSLY cold here in San Antonio…like so cold I don’t want to go outside. My body doesn’t function when it’s under 50 degrees…seriously…it’s sad!

Today I want to share my excitement for a recent milestone: I’ve hit 1,000 followers on Teachers Pay Teachers! I am so grateful for that. Since I started my new position as an Early Childhood Specialist I have had very minimal time to blog, create or post on Facebook. It’s been a real challenge with two boys under two and the full time job. I never sacrifice time with my boys to work, I just don’t. Family always comes first so the blog and store have had to be put on the backburner. That being said I am stoked that even though I don’t get to work as much as I would like to, my little old store has a lot of new friends! J

In order to celebrate I am throwing a giveaway: 5 $10 gift cards to TpT. If you win a gift card you can buy whatever you like, I’ll email you the gift card in PDF form. $10 goes a long way on TpT so hopefully you can snag something you’ve had on your wishlist.

I’m also celebrating by sharing some freebies for PK-2^nd grade.

For PK I created some snowflake sorting cards. The snowflakes come in three different sizes and several different designs. I tried to pair designs that were similar so that students can sort by size and shape. In this freebie file I wrote directions for how to use the snowflakes in circle time and centers. You can pick the PK file up here.

For Kinder I created some snowflake subitizing cards. Subitizing (quick images) is HUGE in kindergarten and PK. In this file I created subitizing cards for 0-10 with instructions on how to use. You can pick the kinder file up here.

For firsties I created a penguin measuring game. The students use a snowflake ruler (or cut apart snowflake pieces) to measure the height of 9 different penguins. The directions for the game are in the file and there is a recording sheet. You can pick up the first grade file here.

For my second grade friends I created a “Snow Friends Subtraction” game for practicing subtraction without regrouping. I know how tough subtraction with regrouping can be for little second graders so I thought this fun “scoot style” game can help give them confidence. You can pick up the second grade file here.

Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway! All you have to do to enter is like me on Facebook and follow me on TpT. Thank you all SO MUCH for supporting my little blog and store. I hope that my products and ideas are helpful to you and that your students enjoy them! You are all a blessing in my life and I am truly thankful. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kindergarten Math Notebook {Freebie!}

Hi friends! Do you use interactive notebooks in your classroom? Today I have an awesome freebie to get your notebooks off to a great start!

Kindergarten is my absolute favorite grade of all time and I love creating resources for my kinder friends. This year my bestie asked me to create a math interactive notebook for her kinder kids. I told her “OF COURSE!” because I LOVE creating for the little ones. Right now I’m working on a number and operations pack. Luckily (for me) things go slowly in kinder at the beginning so all she needed from me right now was a number of the week set.

I created 4 activities that her kids can use to build a concrete understanding of numbers 1-10 and hit the math standards:

·      Counters on a ten frame

·      Flip flap template with the numeral on top, students record a set of that number under the flap

·      Tracing the numeral

·      A “zoomed in” number line for students to discuss what comes before and after that number

Here’s what it looks like:

So far the kids are doing really well (my friend teachers year round so they are in week 4). I’ll be adding more activities for the notebook soon and you just might see me blog about it! For now, I’m offering numbers 1-10 as an interactive notebook freebie!! (I've included headers with the TEKS and the CCSS!)

 You can pick it up here. Notebooks can be a little scary with kinders but just like many things, start slow, MODEL, MODEL, MODEL and you’ll get there before you know it! Leave me a comment if you plan on using these in your rooms! I LOVE PICTURES!! :)

Two Stars and a Wish!

Today I’m teaming up with a ton of fabulous bloggers to share “Two Stars and A Wish”! This blog hop is meant to help y’all transition into the school year smoothly with some new ideas in your tool belt. Every new year and new class brings its own special joys and challenges, am I right?

My first star idea is having a motivational wall that keeps you inspired all year long. I did this in my classroom every year and I loved it. Just when I was having a rough time I would look over and read words like “breathe” and “laugh” and it would help me remember to take things as they come and to not let myself get overwhelmed. We all have those days where it seems like nothing is going right and there just isn’t enough time in a day…it happens to us all!

Here’s a picture of my motivational wall in my home office:

This is something super easy and will help keep you going when things get a little crazy! All you have to do is decide which words you want to post, use some funky fonts, print them out, cut and staple to a bulletin board. If you want to use the words I have on my wall you can pick them up in a file here.

My second star idea is to begin your year with data notebooks. I taught at a Leader in Me school so data notebooks were a big deal to us. I absolutely LOVED using them. They were so amazing for several reasons:

1.     

         * I felt like they significantly increased my students’ motivation to set             and meet goals

         * I felt like my students took more ownership of their behavior,                   academics and attitudes 

         * They were a great tool for parents to see their children’s progress

         * They were an extremely helpful tool to take to RTI/ARD meetings               because everything was right there in one place

                         * They are relatively easy to maintain

Even if you’re not at a Leader in Me school data notebooks would be an excellent addition to your classroom. Here are some things I kept in my students’ notebooks:

*Classroom mission statement and students’ personal mission statement

*Goal setting and check in pages

*Graphs for grades, reading levels, behavior, etc.

If you’re interested in starting data notebooks I have a little sampler for you to help you get started. You can pick that file up here.

This year I am beginning a new journey as an Early Childhood Specialist. I am SO excited and I cannot wait to get going but of course I know I will have many challenges to face. Doing my best at work, being an awesome mom and wife, running the blog and my TpT store…is going to be a challenge! Oh yah and finding time to exercise….saayyyy whhhaaat? Ya…we’ll see about that… My point is that I will have a lot on my plate and I need to get more organized!!

Lucky for me I just treated myself to an Erin Condren life planner…eeek!! I haven’t gotten it in the mail yet, but I will share the style I ordered:

Do any of y’all have a planner from Erin?? I am so excited! J I will definitely post a picture when I get this bad boy in the mail!

I hope you enjoyed these ideas and freebies! You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and TpT for tons of freebies and updates.

Now you can head back to Mandy’s site and take a look at ideas from all the other bloggers!

An InLinkz Link-up