The Best and Brightest of 2012 (and a Freebie, of course!)

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

I hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating tonight.
I'm joining the Linky Party over at Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge to share some of the best and brightest highlights of 2012.

According to my blog stats, my most popular post was my Cause and Effect Treasure freebie.

I don't really have a favorite product to share, because everything I post is a freebie, so I'll share one of my favorites. (It's actually second on my stats list, too.)

I had fun creating my "Be an Informational Text Super Hero" packet. Judging from the comments you left, it was one of your favs, too.

My most popular Math post was Measure This.

I get lots of fantastic, fun, and functional ideas from the "brightest" blogs I follow on a regular basis.

I love, love, love Classroom Freebies, because everything is free, free, free! One click leads you to lots and lots and lots of great ideas!

I love all the cute ideas from Rockin' Teacher Materials. Go visit!

The absolute BEST part of 2012 has been all the sweet comments from my readers and the help and contributions from my blogging friends.

And now.......

Here's my New Year's Eve present to you...

It's another basic Even/Odd activity for the Second Grade Common Core Standard 

OA2.3 {Work with equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication. Determine whether a group of objects (up to 20) has an odd or even number of members, e. g. by pairing objects or counting the by 2's; write an equation to express an even number as a sum of two equal numbers}.

Just click on the pic above to download the file.

Have a safe New Year's Eve!

If you haven't entered my giveaway for a copy of The Miracle Dogs of Portugal, click {HERE} to enter now!

Even More Common Core Poetry Activities - Freebie - and a Doggone Good Giveaway!

I've got another freebie on poetry today and the chance for you to win a fantabulous book!

First....the freebie....

Click on the pic above to get activities tied to Christina Rossetti's poem, "Who Has Seen the Wind?" It includes other poems students can use for comparing and contrasting. These are the poems I'll be using our second week back after Christmas Break.
(Remember to set your printer options to "FIT" so that all the material will print on each page.)

Now for the giveaway....

I was excited when I received an email asking if I would be interested in giving away copies of The Miracle Dogs of Portugal, by Tracy Aiello. 

Really...need you ask? Reading is my passion. Sharing reading and books with my kids and friends is just part of that love.

Tracy Aiello's book is the "almost true" story of Henry the Navigator. I love the lyrical words in the story. Aiello actually captures the sound of the ocean in words. Click on the pic below for more info on the book and author.

I have five, yes FIVE, copies of the book to give away. All you have to do is enter below.

And the BEST part of this giveaway.....Miracle Dogs will be donating five additional books to give children affected by Hurricane Sandy. How cool is that?!

Enter now. The contest ends Friday, January 4 at midnight.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Common Core Poetry Activities - Freebie - and a Giveaway!

I think I'm the least comfortable teaching poetry because I don't read a lot of poems. I've spent some time developing activities for some of the poems recommended in the book, Common Core Curriculum Maps: English Language Arts, published by Josssey-Bass. I've used this book for ideas on implementing the Common Core ELA standards in my class. In fact, it's starting to show some wear and tear because I drag it home every night and back to school every morning!

Another resource that I don't want to do without is The Common Core Lesson Book K-5, by Gretchen Owocki. Both of these books have been invaluable to me as I've worked on implementing Common Core this year.

I used the list of poems from Common Core Curriculum Maps as the basis for my poetry unit we will begin on January 7. I'll be posting four different activities on these poems over the next few days. Each set of activities highlights a season.    I'm starting with winter and highlighting "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," by Robert Frost for the first week. I've included other poems for comparing and contrasting with the first poem in the packet. 

Click on the pic above to download the file.

I'd also like to give a shout out to a blogging friend of mine. Susanne at SOS Supply is celebrating her first bloggaversary with some great giveaways. I'm donating an Amazon gift card to help her out. Sue teaches in South Wales in the UK. If you don't already follow her blog, go now and help her celebrate. You might win some awesome prizes! Click on her button below to go visit!

Even and Odd Fun -- Freebie

I took an unplanned break from blogging--

Thoughts of Sandy Hook took all my energy and desire for creating for awhile. I've decided the best way to face that tragedy is to do something nice  once a day in honor and memory of the victims and survivors of Sandy Hook. I started with contacting a former teacher and letting him know how much I appreciated all he did for me in high school and in recent years. Think back on the teachers that meant the most to you. Let them know what a big part of your life they have been and still are!

The flu crept up on me (thank heavens I had a flu shot so it wasn't as bad as it could have been), and I even missed my party with my kids at school. 

Then Christmas came and went! Both kids are home from college, so nothing is normal!

I finally got back in the swing of things tonight. We tackle even and odd numbers when we go back to school on January 7, so I've created several activities to use in my math stations. I'll post all of them over the next several days. They are similar because I want my kiddos to practice on constructing even and odd numbers for several days.

Just click on the pic above to get the first activity.

Enjoy the rest of your break!

Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

Merry Practice! - Freebie

Make some merry practice using place value disks with these cute little gingerbread men.

Just click on the pic above to get the freebie!

Check out Our Five Million Watt Smile!

One of the best resources on the web for teachers is Classroom Freebies. If you haven't discovered it yet, GO NOW!

Contributing authors post their free--yes, FREE--activities and products they have made. 

It's a one-stop bonanza of FREEBIES!

If you need proof it's as good as I say it is.....

it's just reached five million page views!

Click the above pic to see what all the smiling is about! I'm a regular contributor, too!

If you haven't entered my 1,000 Follower Giveaway, Click {HERE} to enter. Time is running out!

Christmas Subtraction with Regrouping - Freebie

Here's a little Christmas practice in subtraction with regrouping.

Just click on the above pic to get the activity.

If you haven't entered my 1,000 Follower Giveaway, time is running out!

Click {HERE} to enter.

Gifting Long Vowels - Freebies

Need practice for sorting two syllable words with long vowels? Put this activity in a literacy station. After students sort the words, ask them to write expanded sentences using one word from each category.

Just click on the pic above to get the file.

How many two syllable long vowel words can you leave in a comment? :)

If you haven't entered my 1,000 Follower Giveaway, go {HERE} to enter!

The More, The Merrier! - Freebie!

What's one of the most important things I have learned this year?

The Common Core standards are not skills that can be paced into a rigid timeline, taught, assessed, and never reviewed.

The more practice....the better!

Our students have to continuously go back, review, and refine their skills.

I've tried to give my kiddos lots of practice in many different ways to keep the skills fresh.

Here's another practice activity for adding and subtracting 10 and 100 to and from numbers.

Click on the pic above to get the activity.

(The MORE comments I get,

the MERRIER I am!)

And remember....the more times you enter my 1,000 Follower Giveaway, the more chances you have to win!

Click {HERE} to enter!

The Stockings Were Hung....Plurals Freebie

Let your kiddos identify plurals for the nouns on the stockings with care!

 Each card has a singular form of a noun. Students will write the singular and plural forms of the words, then choose several pairs to use in sentences.

Just click on the pic above to download the file.

If you haven't entered my 1,000 Followers Giveaway, click {HERE} to enter now!