Where Did July Go?

This is so crazy!  Where did my July go?  I can't believe that August begins at the end of this week.  Luckily, I am spending the first few days of August visiting my sister in Chicago with my daughter, a friend (who teaches across the hall from me) and her son.  I will be sure to share pictures with you when we get back.

I linked up with the Teaching Heart Blog last week and I was chosen to be featured on her Facebook page this week.  I can't believe she chose my idea!

So I thought I would link up again this week and share another freebie.  This is a "hidden picture" game that my students love to play.  I print out pictures and laminate them and put magnetic tape on the back.  Then the students put them on the side of my metal cabinet.  One of the students takes a picture off of the cabinet.  The other students guess which one is missing.  My students love to play this game.  I have created a summer one for you to share with your students.

Click {here} to get your freebie.

I hope your students enjoy the hidden picture game.  Thank you for stopping by.

Stop The Summer! I Want To Get Off! (and a freebie)

I can't believe it is practically the end of July.  I only have a few weeks before I go back into my classroom to starting setting up.  At least I still have a short trip to Chicago to visit my sister to look forward to before starting back.

Enough complaining about how quickly summer is flying by!  I have a freebie to share with you.   I have a book that I got at the I Teach K! conference many years ago when it was in Chicago.  For each letter of the alphabet there is an animal or object for the students to create that begins with that letter.

This past school year, I had many students who were above level.  So we moved into learning the diagraphs.  I decided to create a printable that they could make for the "ch" diagraph.  I created a "ch" chick for them to make.

Here is a picture of it:

Click {here} to get your freebie.

I have linked up with Classroom Freebie for Manic Monday.

Thank you for stopping by,

A Popsicle Freebie

Happy Summer!  It seems that summer has arrived in southeast Michigan.  We are in for a heat wave this week after a bunch of rainy days.  I love a red popsicle to cool off on a hot day.  So I made a popsicle sight word reader for a student I am tutoring this summer.  I thought I would share it with all of you for a Manic Monday freebie.




Find the freebie below:

Click {here} to get the popsicle book freebie.

Stay cool and have a great week!

My VERY 1st Throwback Thursday

I decided to join The First Grade Parade for a Throwback Thursday.  I promised to blog more this summer, so here goes.

Click {here} to visit the linky party.

I have decided to share one of my most popular posts (and a favorite activity of mine).  It is about Parent Writing Journals.  I love having my students write in parent journals.  They write in them on Friday, take them home for the weekend and the parents write something back to the student.  We share them on Monday mornings.  I learn a lot about my students when they share their parent journals.  It is one of my favorite activities of our week.

Here is the original post:

Well, I have survived my first week of school.  It was only 4 days but, that is long enough for my little kinders.  I love my class.  They are doing a wonderful job of learning all of the rules and  procedures.  Most of them are catching on very quickly.  We are going to have a great year!

My school is focusing on teaching writing this year.  I know that when my students have a reason to write they are more likely to want to write.  So after much careful thought and a little luck while looking for a file on one of my jump drives, I found an idea I had used several years ago.  I had my students write in Parent Journals.  A Parent Journal is a spiral notebook where the students write (or draw) a note to their parents/grandparents/their family.  Then whoever the note was written to writes a note back to the student and returns the Parent Journal the next day. I had my students write in the journal on Friday and take it home.  Hopefully, each of my students brings the journal back on Monday.  The the students can share their journals and responses with each other.

Here is a link to the note I attached to the front of the spiral notebooks.  It is in Word, so that you can change it to suit your needs.  

Parent Journal Letter

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit.

Who Wants to Save Money????

Hopefully, all of you are getting some rest and relaxation this summer.  Even though you are supposed to be getting rest and relaxation, I know that many of you are already buying things for your classroom.  I wanted to share a couple of ways that I have saved money buying books and other things for my classroom.

First of all, there is a web site that is called Paperback Swap.  You list books that you have that are in good condition but that you don't need anymore.  When someone on the site wants one, you receive an email.  You send the book to them via media mail (which is a cheaper way to mail books).  This usually costs between $2 and $3.  Then you receive a point.  You can then use that point to order a book from someone else.  That person pays for the shipping of your book.  When you sign up and list at least 10 books, you receive 2 points so that you can begin ordering books right away.  I have gotten many books for my classroom library this way.  Sometimes, if you are very lucky, you can even find some teacher books on the site.

Click {here} to visit PaperBack Swap.

Another place that I found to save money buying stuff for my classroom is a new Facebook page that was begun just a couple of weeks ago.  Charity Preston from The Organized Classroom Blog started a FB page called Used Teaching Treasures Emporium.  There are almost 1,500 members.  I have sold a bunch of teaching items that I haven't used recently.  I have also bought some new things for my room next year.  (It is kinda like what would happen if I worked at Kohl's.  I would spend my paycheck on clothes and not really make any money.)  The items are in good condition and are much less than if you would buy them new.  Just go to Facebook and search for the page.  You have to ask to join.  It is a win-win situation.  You can get rid of some of the books cluttering your shelves and make money to buy new things for your classroom.

If you have any questions about either of these ideas, please email me or comment here and I will try to help you.

Thank you for taking the time to visit,

My First Monday Made It This Summer

So, I hope that all of you survived the 4th of July.  My family tried to squeeze in as much family time as we could.  My son is going to college in September, so we are making family time a priority. Also my sister was in town from Chicago, so we spent time with her.  A drive-in movie, a trip to the zoo, a rained out baseball game, a couple of barbecues and brunch together were all a part of our long weekend.

Yesterday, I was able to squeeze in a little time to create a quick Monday Made It.  I am tutoring this summer and needed something to help my students practice sight words.  So I created some cute flashcards to use for practice or to play a memory game.

I used some border that I bought last summer when the local teacher store was going out of business.  (Better late than never, I always say.)  The package not only had border but it also 4 corners.  The border was seashells and the corners were crabs.

The Border

Next, I cut the border apart.  I used two strips of border to make one set of cards.  I made 4 sets of cards and placed one crab in each set.

After that, I used a permanent marker to write sight words on each seashell.  To make a matching game, I wrote the same sight word on two cards.  I left the crab plain.  I haven't decided what should happen if someone turns over the crab.  The player could lose a turn, get another turn or lose one of his/her matches.

I am tutoring this afternoon, so I will see how the game works.  Once I go back into my classroom, I will probably laminate the cards.  But they seem pretty sturdy for now, especially since I am using them one-on-one with students.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog.  Have a terrific week!