1,000 Follower Giveaway! Woo Hoo! It's Party Time!

It's party time!

I've reached 1,000 followers on my blog, so I want you to celebrate with me!

Several of my blogging friends have donated some wonderful prizes to help me celebrate. I guess I should say help YOU to celebrate, since one of you will be the winner!

(Please click on the pics below to visit these cool blogs. You'll get lots of great ideas for your classroom just by visiting.)

All you have to do is follow the directions on the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

Here's what you might win.

I'm donating a $25.00 Amazon gift card.

(My activities are always free, so I wanted to do something special for you!)

Angelia at Extra Special Teaching is donating this super cute All About Reindeer Unit.

Tanja from Journey of a Substitute Teacher is giving away her fabulous 12 Days of Holidays Around the World unit.

Leslie at KindergartenWorks has contributed these fabulous Teacher Planning Pages and Binder Tips.

Suzanne from SOS Supply is giving her amazing Christmas Writing Journal Pack.

Mercedes from Surfing to Success is giving a big, big, big bundle of Winter/Christmas clipart.

Julie from Little Literacy Learners is donating this cute main idea and details activity.

Kim at Joy in 6th Grade is offering a ten dollar gift certificate to KPM Doodles so that you can pick out your own clipart!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We Are Thinking About........

We talk a lot about thinking in my classroom.

I love, love, love Tanny McGregor's Comprehension Connections and all her right-on-target ideas for teaching reading. If you haven't read the book, go buy, borrow, or steal a copy NOW! I truly believe it should be required reading for all literacy teachers.

My kids loved her lesson on metacognition using a salad bowl. They are proud they know a "college" word that many adults can't define. Because they know I really, really, really want them to think about their thinking, I can hear them saying  "metacognition" when they are talking to their partners in small groups.

To focus our thinking about different topics and skills, we have started posting our work on our classroom door. Look closely and you can see the kiddos' "thinking faces!"

I love that she has her tongue stuck out to the side like she is concentrating so hard!

These thinking samples were based on collective nouns.....a HARD concept for my second graders to get.

Have any of you done lessons based on McGregor's book? I'd love to hear your success stories.

Be sure to check back tomorrow. Several of my blogging friends are helping me celebrate reaching one thousand followers! You might win some great surprises!

And as an early surprise......

I'd like to thank Sarah Picone Hall for being my one hundredth Networked Blog follower!

Sarah, if you will contact me with your email address, I'd like to send you a $10.00 Amazon gift card!

As our kiddos say in our Morning Meeting.....

"Have a Terrific Thursday!"

Shining Plurals - Freebie

My kiddos are like hamsters on wheels....they are moving, moving, moving.....all day long! They are so excited about Christmas and are already counting down the days.

I'm trying to give them some extra fun in our lessons and literacy stations to help burn off some of that Christmas energy.

One of our skills is forming irregular plurals.

They are loving this card game based on forming plurals and beg to play it. I think I'm going to have to make more sets so more than two kiddos can play at once!

Players draw a card and identify the plural form of the word. If they are right, they get to keep the card. If they draw a tangled string of lights, they have to put all their cards back in the pile.

Just click on the pic above to get the game.

I bet your kids love this as much as mine do!

Please leave a comment and let me know if htey do.

Adjective and Adverb Scavenger Hunt - Freebie

My kids love it when I put up a scavenger hunt. I honestly don't think they know they are practicing skills! All they know is they are having fun.

My latest hunt is based on adverbs and adjectives.

After finding the 32 words hidden around the room, the students record the words on a T chart they have made themselves.

Just be careful---my assistant and I spent a good ten minutes trying to find one of the cards I had hidden too well!

Just click on the pic above to get the cards.

Happy hunting!

(Please hide me a comment, too! I love hearing from you all.)

Adverbs and Adjectives Game -- Freebie

Here's  a game to play as part of your whole group instruction to review adjectives and adverbs.

Divide your class into teams. Set a timer for ten minutes. Teams take turns drawing cards. They must tell if the word is an adjective or adverb and use it correctly in a sentence. They get to keep the card if they complete each task correctly. The team with the most cards at the end of ten minutes wins.

Put the cards in a literacy station for extra practice.

Just click on the pic above to get the game cards.

Two Syllable Long Vowel Words - Freebie

I'm giving this activity to my kiddos in a literacy station next week for practice in sorting long vowel two syllable words.

I need to bump up our practice on distinguishing the different long vowel sounds. 

After sorting the words, they will choose one word from each category to use in sentences.

 Just click on the pic above to download the file.

Can you use two syllable words with long vowels in a comment? :)

Santa's Job - Freebie

Steven Krensky has written two books you are going to love!

How Santa Got His Job and How Santa Lost His Job tell the stories of how Santa got the best job in the world...and how he lost it!

This packet combines activities for both books. Although I published them on my blog last year, I've updated them to include the Common Core ELA Standards and put the activities for both books in one packet. 

Just click on the pic above to get double the fun!

To get even more mileage out of the books, I used them both as writing prompts. Before reading, I asked the kiddos to make their own predictions about how Santa first started making and delivering toys. They wrote their own stories, then compared their predictions to the books. We did the same to tell how Santa lost his job.

Please leave a comment! I love reading them!

Have a wonderful end to your Thanksgiving weekend.

Candy Jar Subtraction - Freebie

I'm a little later posting today than usual. I didn't get anything scheduled last night because both of my kids are home from college. That's my first item on my Thankful List!

Here is the companion to the Candy Jar Addition.

Students choose two pieces of candy, arrange them so that they make a subtraction expression, and solve the problem.

Click on the pic above to download the file.

Please leave me a comment....that's another item on my Thankful List!

Candy Jar Addition - Freebie

We're still working on adding and subtracting with regrouping. Here's an activity for a Math station.

Students draw two pieces of candy and find the number cards to match. They must add the two numbers together. You can ask them to draw three cards as an extension.

Just click on the pic above to download the activity.

(And please think about leaving me a comment in my candy jar!)

Updated Polar Express Activities

I posted lots of activities for The Polar Express last year. I've learned a lot about making activities since then, so I've gone back and redone all the activities, added some new ones, correlated them to the Common Core ELA Standards, and put them into one big file. 

Your students can practice sequencing activities, matching synonyms, parts of speech, and alphabetical order. I added cards with discussion questions for the book. If you don't have a copy of The Polar Express, you can listen to actor Lou Diamond Phillips reading it online at StoryLineOnline.

Just click on the pic above to get the file. Please leave a comment if you download the activities. I'd love to know what you think.

I've reached the one thousand followers mark, so be looking for details for a giveaway in the next few days!

This is Why I Teach

One of my sweet kiddos met me in the gym Friday morning with a huge grin on his face. He could not wait to give me a present. The little darling had taken his prized school supply box that he had won in a drawing, added glitter, and magically transformed it into a Treasure Box...complete with treasures!

He asked if I had a husband and if I did he really, really, REALLY wanted me to take my new treasure box to my house and show it to him.

So here are my treasures....keys to my box, Fruit by the Foot, golden beads, a lump of "gold", and a note.

Of course, the note is the most precious treasure of all!

Ask me why I teach.....I can give you a million and one stories like this.

Subtraction with Regrouping - 2 for 1 Freebie

Here are the last of the Thanksgiving regrouping activities.
Put this file in a math station with place value blocks for modeling the problems.

Use place value disks to practice modeling subtraction with regrouping.

Click on each pic above to get the files above. I'd be thankful for a comment if you download!

Elf on the Shelf AND Regrouping in Subtracting - 2 for 1 Freebie

Here's a little preview of some Christmas fun. My class was visited by an "Elf on the Shelf" last year. They couldn't wait to find him every morning. He led us through all sorts of fun activities. The Elf on the Shelf company has a website that includes a Teacher Resources Center. You can register your own elf there. They have been giving away free elves, but that has ended. If you are interested, just click on the picture below to visit their website.

My kids loved the addition regrouping scavenger hunt so much that I made another one for subtraction. Not only do they have to work the problem, they have to tell whether or not they regrouped.

Just click on the pic above to download.
Another of their favorites was drawing turkey feathers to determine a problem to solve. Here is another version for subtraction.

Please leave a comment if you use this. I'd like to know what you think.

Perfect Pilgrim Practice - 2 for 1 Freebie

Need more regrouping practice?
Here's a twofer for you!
Bring out the place value blocks to practice adding and regrouping.

When you're ready for subtracting with regrouping, use this activity, place value blocks and a calculator for checking.

Just click on each of the links above to download the file.

(I'd be thankful for a comment!)

Capitalization Freebie

My kiddos need more practice on capitalizing geographic places, holidays, and product names.

I re-cycled the Perfect Pumpkin activity I used during Halloween with a Thanksgiving theme.

I used the same terms I used earlier because the kiddos still aren't able to sort the different types of proper nouns.

They record their sorts on a tri-fold foldable and add their own terms. I let them copy words they find in books or glue in terms from newspapers and magazines.

Click on the pic above to download the file.

Let's Regroup! - 2 for 1 Freebie

Here's a quick Math station activity. Students use place value disks to model regrouping with addition.  

And here's your second freebie!

Students use the same disks to model subtracting with regrouping.

Just click on each of the pics above to download the files.

Please leave a comment and let me know if you use place value disks with your kiddos!

Ready to Regroup - 2 for 1 Freebie!

This time last year I was right at one hundred followers and I thought that was quite an accomplishment. Tonight, I'm looking at 985 followers. I never thought I would be this close to one thousand followers! I'm going to have to plan a giveaway when I reach the thousand mark. Keep looking back for details. I usually only open giveaways to followers of my blog, so if you just browse, please think about becoming a follower. 

Ready for more regrouping practice?

My kids love these practice stations, especially if I let them use a calculator to check their answers. I'm putting two freebies in one post today since it's so close to Thanksgiving and you'll want to use them soon. 

Be sure to click on each of the pics above to download the activities....

....and please be ready to leave a comment!