Groundhog's Day Freebies!!!!

Lauren at First Grade Diaries has designed the cutest little groundhogs and has posted them in her Etsy Shop. Go RIGHT NOW and look! She has also added the polka dot frames I used with the groundhogs in these activities based on Substitute Groundhog, by Pat Miller. They include sequencing, ABC Order, and parts of speech. The book is sooo cute and is a new favorite of mine! Click on the pic to download .........

........and click on the following pic to download freebies on ABC order and fact and opinion for Groundhog Weather School, by Joan Holub.

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. (And don't forgot to check out Lauren's newest art!)

Tag! I'm It!

I've "met" so many new friends through my blog. Two Three of them have "tagged" me in a "get-to-know your blogging friends" chain.

Here's my responses and questions for those I'm tagging.

1. You must post the rules. 

2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create twelve new questions for the people you tagged.

4. Tag 12 people and link them in your post.

5. Let them know you've tagged them.

Rules....check!

 12 Fun facts about me? Heavens. Here goes.....

1. I have the two funniest kids EVER...Mike is 21 (how did that happen so fast?)...Martha is 20 (Really? 20?)

2. I'm married to Allen, who I've known since Second Grade. 

3. I really, really, really would like to write a book, but I'm not much of a writer.

4.  I could retire this coming September...but won't. Thirty years doesn't mean Social Security!

5.   I am definitely a morning person. It's easy to get up at 4:45 and get on the elliptical, but hard to stay up past 9:00!

6. I love, love, love going to Bonnaroo. My "Roonie" friend (and co-teacher) and I even camped out our first year we went, but we decided we live close enough to have air conditioning and a comfortable bed every night instead!

7. I make a list for EVERYTHING, but I'm having a hard time with this one.

8. I love cooking. Spent the morning yesterday freezing meals for the kids to take back to college with them when they leave today.

9. I don't cook if the kids aren't home.

10.  I love taking photographs and wish I could be good at it.

11.  I have a cur-razy dog, Tillie. My best friend rescued her from the pound and gave her to my daughter one year for Christmas. She is all mutt and is as cute as can be.

12. I'm glad this is Number 12 and I can stop.

The questions I have to answer.........

From Beth Ann at Taming My Flock of Firsties

1. How long have you been teaching?  29 years

2. What grades have you taught? K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Looped with 4 and 5 and now with 2 and 3 Was a Supervisor for nine years and decided I wanted to retire from a classroom and school community, not from a Central Office, so I asked to go back to teaching three years ago.

3.  What do you do when you have time off? In the Summer, I go to the lake, read, relax, cook, be with friends. If it's not Summer, I read, blog, be with friends.

4. If you could change one thing about your teaching, what would it be? Less pressure from the State over evaluations and more support instead of all the teacher-bashing we have suffered lately.

5. What is your strength (teaching)? I LOVE it and I think the kids know that I do, so they work hard for me.

6.  If you could be a superhero, which one would you be? Superman, of course, because he was the original superhero (I think). But I would be better, cuz I'm a woman!

7.  What are three words that describe your class?

funny...sponges...eager

8.  How late do you stay at school? Depends on what's going on. I hardly ever leave before 4:00...that's an early day. Usually stay till 5:00 or after and usually work either most of the day on Saturday or Sunday.

9.  How fast can you type? I have no idea.

10.  What are your goals for this year? (personal or professional) Personal goals: Get in better shape and get the house organized. Professional goals: Let our TN legislature and governor know there are plenty of GOOD, EFFECTIVE teachers who are HURT by their recent actions, which in turn has hurt our kids.

11.  If you could have anything you wanted for your classroom, what would it be? I would have my Promethean Board and projector hung in a different spot so my classroom would be run more effectively.

12. What are some signals you use in your classroom?

When I need their attention, I yell out FREEZE! or TRANQUIL! (The kids suggested I change it to tranquil when it was one of our vocab words.) I also have a little gadget that does a Tarzan yell. That gets 'em every time.

And from Mrs. S at Stapler's Strategies.....

1. How did you decide to become a teacher? My grandmother taught in a one-room schoolhouse and I always thought I wanted to do exactly what she did!

2.  Did you marry your high school sweetheart? No, but we have known each other since elementary school.

3.  Where would you choose to retire and why? At the lake, as long as it was close enough to my grandkids.

4.  What is your favorite cook-at-home meal? Mashed potatoes, fried okra, salmon patties or chicken tenders

5.  Do you have a teacher "bestie" with whom you plan? Tell about him/her if so. I have three! We plan together each week and collaborate every day on something! I love my Second/Third Grade Looping Block!

6.  What is your pet peeve? I have two. One is people who are late ALL THE TIME and the other is people who think rules don't apply to them.

7.  Does you team share everything or do you have some "stingy" teamies? Not a single "stingy" teacher on our team!

8.  What is one of the funniest stories you can tell about your teaching experiences? My first year of teaching I had a little first grade boy yell out form the restroom that was in the back of our class that he had a tick on his "tallywhacker" and needed me to come get it off!

9.  Have you ever run into your garage door? Just the side of the door in our old house.

10.  Do you have pets? What kind and how many? (See above answers.)

11.  Are you an early bird or a night owl? Definitely early bird.

12.  Where is the most exotic place you've ever been?  San Juan, Puerto Rico

Dillydabbles

1. What is your favorite food/drink to de-stress?  Diet Coke

2.  What is your favorite book to read to your class?  Anything with Junie B. Jones!

3. What is your favorite book to read yourself? I like all kinds of books. The Sunday Wife is one that I have read over and over.

4.  How far do you travel to get to your school? about 8 minutes

5.  How many students are in your class?  22

6.  Do you exercise? How often and what types? Elliptical every morning at 5:00 a.m.

7.  What is your favorite topic or unit to teach? Reading/Comprehension

8.  What behavior plans/rewards do you have in place in your classroom?  Our school does School-wide Positive Behavior.

9.  What do you wear to school? leggings, dress, boots

10.  How old/new is your school?  three years old!

11.  What technology do you have available/use in your classroom?  Three student computers, three laptops, teacher computer, document camera, Promethean Board and projector, ActivResponse System, iPods, laptop carts available for checkout

12.  How do you spoil yourself? I buy a book when I want it.

And here are my twelve questions for the twelve people that I'm tagging......


1. What's your easiest thing about teaching this year?
2. What's the hardest thing about teaching this year?
3. What is a professional book you recommend to everyone you work with?
4. What is a new idea you have tried this year that has really worked?
5. What book character do you most want to be like?
6.  What is your favorite book or author to read aloud to your class?
7.  What treat or pick me up do you keep hidden in your desk at school?
8.  What one new thing do you want to try on your blog?
9.  What do you do on snow days?
10. What time do you get up on school days?
11. What is your favorite thing to Pin?
12. What is the last movie you saw?


And my twelve people.....
Barrow's Hodgepodge

Third Grade Gridiron

Third Grade's a Hoot

Buzzin' with Ms. B

Thinking Out Loud

Mrs. Freshwater's Class

The Inspired Apple

Doodle Bugs Teaching

Runde's Room

Teaching in High Heels

Third Grade Thinkers

Technology Rocks

To, Too, Two -- Freebie!

Here's practice TO give those TWO kids in your room (and all the others, TOO) some practice in using these hard to remember words correctly.

Please share some 

love by leaving a comment if you download!

The Snow Day -- Cause and Effect Freebie

I love, love, LOVE The Snow Day, by Komako Sakai. It's a good way to introduce picking out cause and effect statements that do not have clue words. This is a quick activity to let students practice without getting frustrated. Once they have identified the example from the story, they write their own based on a snow day. Click on the pic below to download.

Have a great day, even if it's not a snow day!

Fraction Roll and Compare -- Freebie

All you need for this review of comparing fractions to a whole is a pair of dice, paper, and crayons. Click on the pic to download. Please leave a comment if you do!

Graphics by First Grade Diaries   Fonts by KevinandAmanda.com

Sweet Practice for They're, Their, There -- Freebie! (Link is Corrected!)

I know adults who can't keep these three little words straight!

You can even see them all over Pinterest!

So for my kids ( who DEFINITELY need some extra practice).....and maybe for your kids, too.....

Here's a free game for some extra practice.

Just click on the above pic to download.

Adjectives and Adverbs -- Freebie

Use this activity in small groups or with partners to classify words as adjectives or adverbs. Once they have separated the two, ask students to work together to improve the basic sentence "The girl ran" by adding adjectives and adverbs.

Please leave a comment if you download! They keep me motivated.

All You Need for a Snowman -- ABC Order Freebie

We have been working on dictionary skills and still need a little more practice in putting words in alphabetical order. These words are from the cute book All You Need for a Snowman. You can use it as a writing prompt, too. Ask kids to come up with a list of all the items they could use to build a snowman.

And remember, all I need is a comment!

I Love Words - Dictionary Skills Freebie

Here's one of my literacy stations for this week to give the kiddos extra practice on dictionary skills. They had rather work with the dictionary than do anything else I give them! I've never seen a group like this....they love absolutely everything I give them! 

Silent Letter Sort AND Volcano Diagram-- 2 Freebies!

We are working with silent letters this week, so I'm giving my kids this sort for practice. We have two school-wide TCAP Practice tests on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I'm trying to make everything else as fun as I can! Click on the pic for the free download.

Barrow's Hodgepodge also has a cute silent letter activity posted on her blog. I'm using it in one of my literacy stations, too. Click on the pic below to go to her blog for the activity.

Our story this week is on volcanoes, which my kids are obsessed with! One of my stations is on making and labeling a diagram. They are going to use the Scholastic Smart Words Reader: Volcanoes and these directions. Click on the pic to download.

Don't forget to join my Snow Day Linky Party by clicking here! Share your favorite snow-related activity, favorite snow-themed book, or most inspiring snowy Pin from Pinterest!

Giveaway Winner! (..and A Little Help, Please!

Drum roll, please........

And the winner is.......

I'll be contacting you, Beth Ann, and we will work out the details of getting you the Amazon.com gift card! Congratulations!


HELP!!!! The numbers from my comments disappeared! Can someone help me get them back? I tried the tutorial from The Cutest Blog on the Block, but they never re-appeared!

Construction Capers -- Measurement Freebie!

It's been a busy week, even though it was a short one. I'm ready for the weekend! I'm planning on spending some time at school re-doing my Literacy Stations similar to my Math Stations. I'll post info about it next week.

Since I'm doing a little bit of "converting" in my classroom,  here's an activity to practice converting meters and centimeters to centimeters,  yards and inches to inches, and feet and inches to inches. Click on the pic below to download the Google doc. "Construct" a comment if you download!

Graphics by KPMDoodle.com  Fonts by KevinandAmanda.com

Little Bear's Special Friend -- Freebie

Here's a freebie to start off your weekend! Little Bear's Special Friend is new book we just got in our classroom. It's a sweet story about friendship between Little Bear and his snowman friend, Sparkly, and is a great writing prompt for the kids. Let them write about their winter adventures with a snowman. 

Click on the pic above for sequencing and parts of speech activities to go along with the book......

.....and don't forget the "sparkly" comment for me!

Remember, my giveaway for reaching 300 followers ends tonight at midnight, so there's still time to enter. Go HERE for info.

Have a FANTASTIC FRIDAY!

The Smiley Snowman -- Sequencing and Parts of Speech Freebie

Your kids will love this book about friends who try to warm up a snowman. Sneak in a little practice on parts of speech and sequencing.

I promised a giveaway when I reached 300 followers and we are there! I'll close the giveaway at midnight on Saturday, so you have until then. Go HERE for details on entering.

Measure This! - Freebie

Gingersnaps added some cute, cute, cute measurement graphics to her Etsy Shop, so of course I HAD to get them! I think I own everything she has put up so far! If you haven't checked out her work, go HERE to see it.

And here's your freebie for measurement. Kids draw a task card and add each measurement to their total. The one with the highest total after ten turns wins. They have to convert to feet and inches or centimeters and meters. Run the task cards for the standard units and metric units in different colors. Use whichever units you are practicing. Click on the pic to download. (You can "measure" my happiness at reading your comments!)

I promised a giveaway when I reached 300 followers and we are there! I'll close the giveaway at midnight on Saturday, so you have until then. Go HERE for details on entering.

Ready! Set! Race! - Measurement Freebie and Amazon GIft Card Giveaway!!!!!

Ready! Set! Race to the end of this measurement review! Students choose the correct unit of measurement to advance around the game board. Click on the pic to download. 

Ready! Set! Leave a comment!

Graphics by ScrappinDoodle.com  Fonts by KevinandAmanda.com

I promised a giveaway when I reached 300 followers and we are there! I'll close the giveaway at midnight on Saturday, so you have until then. Go HERE for details on entering.

Start Your Engines! - Measurement Freebie

Here's a fun, fun, fun activity to teach your students the relationships between centimeters and meters and inches and yards. All you will need is a meter/yardstick, dice, and two markers for the students to move.

Click on either of the pics below to download the directions. Please leave a comment if you download. It "revs" me up to add more freebies!

Graphics by ScrappinDoodles.com  Fonts by KevinandAmanda.com

I promised a giveaway when I reached 300 followers and we are there! I'll close the giveaway at midnight on Saturday, so you have until then. Go HERE for details on entering.

Ahoy, Suffixes! - Freebie

We review suffixes this week, so I'm going to start off using this as a whole group activity, then move it to a literacy station. Hand out the cards and let students match up the words, definitions, and sentences. My class loves doing the activity once with a timer, then repeating it several times trying to beat their best time. Click on the pic to download.

....and don't forget a comment, Matey!

(I have corrected a mistake in this, so download it again if you did it before Jan. 17.)

PIE Response Cards -- Freebie

Use this quick freebie to review Author's Purpose. Show various books, newspapers, magazines, ads, etc. Students use a response card to show what the author's purpose is. Click on the pic to download.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you used the cards.

PIE Graphics by KPMDoodles.com  

Fonts by KevinandAmanda.com

Compound Word Matchup -- Whole Group Activity -- Freebie

We are still working on recognizing compound words. To review today, I set our timer for three minutes. Each table group had to work together to write as many compound words on one piece of paper as they could in the time limit. The words had to spelled correctly WITHOUT that little extra space between the two words some of my kids are INSISTING on adding. Everyone had to contribute at least one word to the finished product. 


After that, I handed out cards with either a compound word or a word that wasn't a compound word written on it. I picked two students to be our compound word detectives. I taped a sign to their chest that said "Compound Words" or "Non-compound Words" and gave them each a magnifying glass. They walked around the room, peering through the magnifying glasses, reading each child's word cards. When they found a word that fit their category, that child got up and followed them around the room. They loved it and asked to play it again and again.


We finished with this freebie I'm posting for you.


Hand out these cards to your kids. Set a timer and have them find another student with a word that will make a compound word if added to the word on their card. Once they have matched up, they must write a word using their new compound word. For more practice, ask them to write a statement, a questions, a command, and an exclamation. Click on the link below to download.

Please leave a comment if you download!

Don't forget to join my Snow Day Linky Party by clicking here! Share your favorite snow-related activity, favorite snow-themed book, or most inspiring snowy Pin from Pinterest!

Winter Adjectives -- Freebie

Use this activity to talk about the different types of adjectives. After students have practiced recognizing adjectives, they can write sentences describing winter. 

If you like this snowy idea, be sure to check out my Snow Day Linky Party by clicking here! Share your favorite snow-related activity, favorite snow-themed book, or most inspiring snowy Pin from Pinterest, or just browse through the ideas linked up by blogging friends.

Penguin Parts of Speech -- Freebie

Review nouns, verbs, and adjectives with this penguin game. Click on the pic to download.....and please don't forget the comment!

Don't forget to join my Snow Day Linky Party by clicking here! Share your favorite snow-related activity, favorite snow-themed book, or most inspiring snowy Pin from Pinterest!

Penguin Chicks Money -- Freebie

Aren't these penguins darling? Lauren at First Grade Diaries has them on her Etsy Shop, along with some other cute winter-themed graphics.

This game gives students practice in making change up to $5.00.

Don't forget to join my Snow Day Linky Party by clicking here! Share your favorite snow-related activity, favorite snow-themed book, or most inspiring snowy Pin from Pinterest!

Shopping Cart Game -- Freebie

Students read a card and decide if they have to add or subtract money. Some of the cards make them think a little more by deciding how many products they bought or how many hours they worked. Click on the picture below to download this fun game.....and please leave a comment!


Don't forget to join my Snow Day Linky Party by clicking here! Share your favorite snow-related activity, favorite snow-themed book, or most inspiring snowy Pin from Pinterest!

Graphics by ScrappinDoodles.com  Fonts by KevinandAmanda.com

Money is Snow Secret -- Freebie

It's "snow" secret your kids will love using real money to practice counting out the amounts in this station activity. Click on the pic below to download....and it's "snow" secret I love your comments!

Don't forget to join my Snow Day Linky Party by clicking here! Share your favorite snow-related activity, favorite snow-themed book, or most inspiring snowy Pin from Pinterest!

Wallet War -- Freebie and 2012 Representations

I loved playing War when I was little and use it in my class to review and practice lots of skills. This version is for amounts of money up to one dollar. Click on the pic to download.

Yesterday was our first day back with kids. For Math, we showed various ways of representing 2012.

The kids had a ball and some were pretty creative.

Don't forget to join my Snow Day Linky Party by clicking here! Share your favorite snow-related activity, favorite snow-themed book, or most inspiring snowy Pin from Pinterest!

Sneaky Order -- Money Freebie

Today is our first day back with kids. We had a Staff Development Day yesterday and just that wore me out! Wish me luck today.


I love, love, love these cute sneakers from KPMDoodles.com. Be on the lookout for more activities using them! This activity can be done in a Math station or as a whole group activity. Arrange the money cards in the correct order. If you do it as a whole group activity, set a timer and time the students' first attempt. See if they can beat their time. (Don't forget to sneak in a comment when you download!)

Don't forget to join my Snow Day Linky Party by clicking here! Share your favorite snow-related activity, favorite snow-themed book, or most inspiring snowy Pin from Pinterest!