Shark Week Blog Hop

All teachers know that kids learn more when they’re excited and engaged. Today a team of bloggers come together to help your students take a BITE out of learning with a theme your students are sure to love!

I use individual whiteboards in my classroom all the time to keep all of my students engaged. They love writing on their own boards! For more tips on how to engage all your students check out my previous blog post here.


Of course, picking topics the students are interested in always helps, too!


What student (boy or girl) doesn't love sharks? When I am creating practice worksheets for my students I always add some graphics or activity that is related something they are interested in or a subject matter we are covering in another subject area. Even though they are practicing concepts they know and may get "bored" with the added elements makes it fun.
My freebie is a perfect example of this. The work is multiplication review but students get to solve a fun riddle at the same time.They also get to practice fine motor skills while they complete the cut and paste activity.

Click on the picture to get this fintastic freebie!


Before I move on to the blog hop links I thought I would share some humor I found and shared on my Facebook page!

Be sure to go for a swim in the linky party below. Every blog in the Shark Week Blog Hop features a fishy freebie for you and your students- but hurry! Shark Week only lasts until Sunday, August 17th  : )

An InLinkz Link-up

Cheers,

 

Back To School Ebook

One of the things I anticipate every back to school time is the TpT Ebooks. This year I managed to get in this one!! I am excited about that. There are over 40 TPT sellers who each created a page which has teaching tips and at least one free item. Believe me when I say you will want to download this one. I spent my morning going through the entire thing and have some fun activities for my students.

Before you head off to explore this ebook for yourself, I would like to give a HUGE shout out to Wise Guys for all their incredible work compiling this book.

Cheers,

Adding Text to a PDF

It is always great to get a product that is editable but what do you do when you get it and don't know how to edit it? Usually I make my editable items in PowerPoint so it is easy to edit. I do have a few earlier products that I made into a PDF.

I have had a few people ask me lately how to add text to a PDF file. Since I haven't found out yet how to record what I do on my computer I took a screen shot of what I did and added labels.

Here is how I add text to a PDF file.

I hope this helps!  

Cheers,

BTS Sale Finds!

I saw this blog hop link up and thought I would join because I love sharing new finds. I JUST checked out on TPT and almost forgot to use the code BTS14 to get the additional 10% off. I would have felt silly if I had done that.

Anyways I thought I would share with you a couple things I purchased.

My favourite find is these Send Home Science Kits. I think I will be using them for birthday gifts this year. I have already printed off the shopping list and am going to start shopping (I know I just finished shopping but I LOVE shopping!).


Another item I purchased were these adorable Classroom Rules Posters. I like how they are simple enough rules that they cover a wide scope and you don't need a ton of rules in the classroom. A bonus is that they will go with my classroom décor!

Of course I couldn't leave a TPT sale without getting fonts and clip art. Thanks to Jenna Hudson at Sew Much Music, Dancing Crayon Designs, and Khrys Bosland I will have more things to create with!

There is still time to get in on the sale so happy shopping!

Cheers,

Back To School Sale and a Freebie!!!!

I love back to school time. I love buying new supplies to start fresh with and I love decorating my room. I get excited and nervous to meet my new students and this year I will be changing schools so I have new colleagues to meet! I also love the Teachers Pay Teachers Back To School Sale!!!!!

This year my whole entire (my husband would scream to hear me say this redundant statement!) store is on sale for Monday and Tuesday only. I will be putting everything at a 20% off discounted price. On top of that TPT is giving an additional 10% off at check out. All you have to do is use the code BTS14.


I thought I would show you a few of the new items to my store to help you get started.

I love having binder covers to match my classroom colours so I made these. They are my newest item and are editable to suit your needs.

I also had some time to create 2 more of my popular syllable sorts. This time the ocean and space were the topics. Perfect for adding in those science words!

The last new thing I am going to tell you about before I get to the freebie is my Editable Teacher Calendar. Staying organized is key for me and I like to do so in style. I have already printed and bound (at Staples) this calendar and am getting ready for back to school! And for my Canadian colleagues here is a Canadian version!!!

Okay, freebie time ...It was hard to decide which freebie I wanted to put on here. I decided to go with a fun one that can be used all through the year. My class cannot get enough of Duck Dynasty and have a blast playing this game.

 Well that is it for today. Don't forget to use the code BTS14 and any feedback credits you may have, when you are shopping on TpT during the sale.

Cheers,

 

My First Currently!

I am excited to finally jump on the Currently bandwagon!!! Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade hosts a Currently linky every month and I have always read them but never participated.

Here it is:

 

Listening: The sound of a fan is a great thing on a hot day like today. I would love a house with air conditioning then I could have put something more exciting here. We actual live in a rental that has thin walls so maybe my guys are that loud.

 

Loving: Steak on the BBQ is my favourite meat to eat! I could eat it every second day (alternating with fish) if I was allowed to. The steak has to be Barbecued though.

 

Thinking: As I mentioned we are renting but we are in the process of buying a house. We have looked at so many and it now has come down to 2 of them. One with a view of the lake or one with 5 acres of wilderness. Hmmm.

 

Wanting: Yup it is hot and a swim would help.

 

Needing: I am procrastinating doing outside chores for 2 reasons....1) it is hot outside   2) I am getting ready for the TPT Back to School Sale!!!!!

 

Well that is it for this Currently. I am planning on doing them from now on :)

 

Don't forget to check out Farley's blog for the links to all the other currently participants. There are some great posts out there.

Cheers,



Let's Have Some Fun Linky

I love having fun in my classroom and am bringing some "fun" to this blog post! Sally at Elementary Matters is having a Let's Have Some Fun Linky and I decided to join!!!

Part one of the linky has me sharing a funny story from my classroom. It took a bit of time to think of the one that I wanted to share. We seem to have many funny moments in my classroom. I decided that I would share something from my first year teaching Grade 1. My friends would tell you that me teaching Grade 1 is the funny part. I vowed I would never teach below Grade 3 but when you want a job you take what there is. Sorry I was sidetracked. Me teaching Grade 1 is not the funny part...lol.

Here is the funny part: Each week we did spelling and this one day a student came up to me looking very concerned. I asked her what was wrong and she said that I gave her a swear word for their spelling this week and she didn't like that. Confused, I asked her what she was talking about and then she said I gave them the "a" word on the list. I had her point to the word and at that moment she said the word....YIKES I am glad no parents or administrator was around because she said the "A" word.... You know "as". Well we say as but a Grade 1 student sounding it out says "a" "s". I know I don't have to spell out the word for you but I got quite a chuckle and tell this story to colleagues still today.

Now for a fun product.... This was an easy choice. My students have so much fun playing this Duck Dynasty game. It is always the first one to be taken. Students have to try and build the biggest/smallest/closest number to earn duck points. The person with the most duck points wins.

You can get Duck Wars along with other fun products for your classroom during the Teachers Pay Teachers annual Back To School Sale. My entire store will be on sale and if you use the promo code BTS14 at checkout you will get 28% off your total.

I know my cart is already filling up and there is nothing more fun than getting a discount!

Don't forget to check out the other links on Elementary Matters Link Up!

Cheers,