New Kids on the Block {The Group and Products and a Weird Chance to WIN!}

I'm going to make it my goal to casually use as many NKOTB song titles as I can in this blog post, thus the weird chance to win... so keep reading!

So, NKOTB the group.  I saw them twice over the summer.  TWICE.

First, my wonderful, amazing, beautiful friend of the last 21 years took me to see them about an hour from where we live.  Then I got my wonderful, amazing, beautiful, so lucky to be co-workers friend to go with me to see them in Cleveland... about four hours from where we live!

And it was amazing both times.  PS- TLC and Nelly were there too and I forgot how insanely talented they all are!

Joey Joe!  I was going to marry him when I was a kid.  Like seriously marry.

Me and my dearest dearest friend of 21 years... we got all 80s up with bright lipstick... we even crimped our hair!

Joe sang "Please Don't Go Girl" and it was amazing.  Did I mention that already?

That explicit song reference doesn't count... so, the first person to comment with the correct number of song references from here on out, can have any one item mentioned in this post (with the exception of the product bundles) for free!!!!!!!

Starting...

NOW!  I'll even help you out for the first few...

So, tonight {casual song title #1} I have been working' tough {small reference to song title... counts as #2} on finishing up a new product.  One of my very own "New Kids on the Block" and I think it's a GREAT ONE!

An Interactive Reading Notebook!!!!!  It's set up just like my Writer's Notebooks- with a "Teach Me" page and "My Turn" page... I think you're going to LOVE this!  Click the pic to check it out!

Please don't go, girl.  Come and see the next new product!  There's another TpT sale going on this week and I don't want you to miss out on these new goodies!

I have a new "line" of task card products for writing!  Click the pic to check them out.  So far, there are sets for the four seasons as well as a set with prompts for responding to a text.  At just $2 a set, it's got the right stuff to get your kiddos doing some authentic writing with choice!

Another new set... these are my favorite, girl.  {See what I did there?}

Common Core Reading Response Tasks... available for grades 2, 3, 4, AND 5!  Click the pic to check them out!

And I can't end this blog post without sharing one of my other favorites.  I've been using these in summer school and the kiddos LOVE them!  Ten sets of Partner Plays to choose from or a money saving bundle that gets you two sets FREE and one bonus play!  Your students will be loving these forever!

Call it what you want, but time is on our side.  You still have two days to get your shopping cart ready at TpT!  Don't forget to use the code MORE15 at checkout to get an EXTRA savings!!!!  My store will be 20% off!

I remember when the sale ended earlier this month and I found more goodies I needed... so I'm pretty psyched for this sale boost day.  I have a funny feeling that some of you probably feel the same way!  {And thanks to Deana Kahlenberg for the cute button!}

If you made it this far, thanks for playing along with my weird chance to win.  I had a great time hiding those song references in this post!  If you care to play along, comment with the number of song references and, the first person correct, can have their choice of one of my new products (sorry, not the bundles though!)

Good luck!

PDF Printing Tutorial REWIND!

Check out this oldie but goodie blog post... it shows you how to print multiple sheets of a PDF so the pages are smaller!

It's a GREAT tip that you might not know about!  Click the tape to REWIND to the post!

Celebrating AR Point Clubs {freebie alert!}

Do you do AR at your school?  If so, how do you display your students' point progress?

We do ours as "point clubs"... for every 25 points, students achieve a new point club.

This year I made a cute hanging display for my point clubs.  I'll be adding small Post-It notes with student names as they achieve levels in the club:

These are attached with brads and it's hung on one of my closet doors.

You can snag a copy too!  This is pretty tall... it's probably 6 feet or so, so you need a big area (or to print more than one per page) to display this.  Or, don't assemble it and just hang each page in a line or whatever configuration you want!

Click the pic below to download and let me know what you think in the comments!

Three-fer Thursday! {Homework!!!}

Happy Thursday!

It's my 3rd day of teaching summer school and it's kinda nice to be back in the swing of things!

Today the 3-fer is all about homework.

I believe it's important for students to practice their skills at home.  It's also a way that parents can support classroom learning... but, sometimes, it's difficult for students to complete their homework.  They get busy or lazy or forget or the dog eats it!

But, having a "homework club" is a cheap incentive to encourage students to be responsible for their learning outside of school.

I allow my students 1 "oops" a month.  But, a 2nd homework assignment not completed means they must flip their number over in the chart.  At the end of the month, anyone still in the club eats lunch in the room with me, receives a certificate and a homework pass, and gets their name on a sign posted outside of the door.

My Homework Club pack is 20% off today and has everything you need to get this started with your class!

Add some extra fun with these themed homework passes!  The Homework Club pack contains homework passes but I love this themed pack because I give them out for holidays and birthdays!  A homework pass is the same as completing homework so my students often save these and use them on those busy nights or their "oops"!  Also 20% off today!

Last item of 3-fer Thursday is "Show What You Know"... technically this is cheating because this makes more than 3 items but these are PERFECT for homework {I use them for morning work}... weekly checks for math and grammar that spiral all year and contain an opportunity to respond to questions by writing about math/grammar!

Ok!  Enjoy this week's 3-fer Thursday!  Get your HOMEWORK ON!

Boogie Board... It's the COOLEST!!!!

I just had to show off what I just got, so I thought I'd make a quick little video!  I hope you'll check it out!

I'm super psyched about it and know my kiddos are going to LOVE it!  I'll be placing it at my "Work on Words" area for students to use to practice writing their spelling and vocabulary words.

Writing on the window is their usual favorite...

But I know they'll love this!

Click the pic to find it on Amazon!

Glitter Day!

Glitter!  Did I get your attention?

I just added the LAST pack of partner plays to the growing bundle.  It's all grown up now and is officially a fully grown partner play bundle!

The last pack has partner plays that are conversations at school...

The play called "Glitter Day!"... well, it may have been extremely late at night and I may have been just a tad bit tired.  But, with that said...

I LOVE this one.  It's a conversation between a teacher and a very understanding school custodian about the school's use of glitter... all classrooms in one day!  Thank goodness for amazing school custodians who keep our rooms clean and don't mind sweeping up after GLITTER DAY!

The other conversations are:

-Check it Out!  A conversation between a student and the librarian
-Going on a Field Trip  A conversation between a teacher and a bus driver
-What's on the Menu?  A conversation between a lunch lady and a student
-Glitter Day!  See above!
-Visit with the Principal  A conversation between a student and the principal

If you've purchased the bundle, please re-download.  You can also access your exclusive FREE partner play {Birthday Chore Day!} that is only available in the bundle!

I am going to leave the bundle at the current price ($22.00) until midnight tonight.  Then it will increase to the final price of $24, which is still $6.00 less than buying them individually... it's basically buy ten sets get two sets free!

Click the picture to learn more:

And don't forget to check out yesterday's blog post to enter to win Common Core connected reading response tasks for your grade level!  I'm going to give away two sets!  Click the pic below to head over to enter!

Common Core Connected Reading Tasks for 2nd Grade... It's HERE! {And a GIVEAWAY!}

A week ago, I posted about my Common Core connected reading response tasks for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades...

And now, they are available for 2nd grade as well!

These packs have a reading response activity for each RL and RI standard.

An "I can..." statement is at the top, along with a graphic organizer and then directions for (usually) two writing tasks involving a book and the graphic organizer.  The last task will be graded, using the rubric... OR use the editable PowerPoint included with each file to create your own rubrics!

Everything you need (including a rubric!) is on one page, that students glue into a composition notebook...

 

Task 1 is completed on a graphic organizer and then the rest of the tasks are to be completed on the paper to the right of the response sheet.

These are new for me this year and I can't WAIT to use them with my 3rd graders!

You can win a copy!

Just enter the Rafflecopter below!  It only runs for three days to give the winner time to look this over, print, and get it ready to use in class!  In fact... I'll choose TWO winners!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Pretty New Classroom Rules Display!

That's pretty much the largest picture ever posted on Blogger, I'm pretty sure!

But, I LOVE my new rules chart!!!  It literally took me 10 minutes to assemble after I cut it out... I just hot glued a length of ribbon between each rule and one at the top that I tied into a bow.  I hung it on my closet doors!

It's tough to see with my horrible lighting, but there's a pink, blue, green, purple, and gray border around the rule cards... it looks gorgeous hanging in my room, if I do say so myself!

You can get a copy on TpT... it contains my rules and an editable file so you can customize up to five of your own class rules!

Keeping Community Supplies Organized {A.K.A. The Joys of Having Tables in the Classroom}

I LOVE having my students sit at tables in the classroom.

LOVE.

I'm a social person and so I don't mind my students having a more social atmosphere.  We departmentalize so students don't need a desk full of their own stuff.  And, we don't sit at our tables a whole lot because we're up and moving for Daily Five and writing workshop anyway.

But... one thing I don't love is juggling the organization of classroom supplies.  Since we don't have desks, and our seat sacks are full as it is, we have community supplies at each table.  I have a love/hate relationship with this.  I love that things are within reach and easy to get to.  I love that we share.  I hate that caddies can't stay organized.  I hate that sometimes one table has 1 highlighter while another has 12!

Over the years, I've tried a variety of things... plastic bins from the Dollar Tree, caddies with compartments like the kind you organize your cleaning products in, and finally found something that I LOVE from Lakeshore Learning.  I can't find the exact thing I have on their website, but it's similar to this one {click here!}. 

It came with cardboard organizers and has a shelf to hold our white boards and mini-offices.  It's all primary colored and such a great way to organize!

However... after years of use, the cardboard organizers were falling apart and, anyway, I went to a blue, pink, and green color scheme.

So... I took them home and spraypainted the holders pink.

Then bought metal and plastic containers (thanks, Target!!!).  This worked GREAT but students still had scissors where I wanted crayons and pens where I only wanted dry erase markers.  GRRRR!

The other week at... you guessed it... Target, I found little tiny clothespins in the Dollar Spot.  So, I made little tiny labels, laminated them, and glued them to the little tiny clothespins!

Now, everything is neat and labeled with no excuses for messy table caddies!

So, there you have it!  How do you organize community supplies in your classroom?

Sale-E-Oh-Yo!

Yo!  It's Back-to-School SALE time at TpT!!!!!  Summer school starts for me tomorrow, so I'll be stocking up on goodies to get my kiddos prepped and ready to start 3rd grade.

Just wanted to share with you today some stuff you never knew you couldn't live without!

I am in LOVE with my new Partner Play packs!!!!  Like serious LOVE.  I can't WAIT for my students to get their little paws on these.  The growing bundle will still be getting one more pack added before September 1st.  Right now, there are 45 partner plays in the growing bundle!  Click the picture to check them out!

They're laminated and ready to go in my partner reading center.  Click the pic to check out my partner reading area!

My other LOVE LOVE LOVE is my Writer's Notebook.  My instruction was SO targeted this year and my students were SUCH great writers!  I love using this because the "Teach Me" pages make mini-lessons a breeze and then students immediately practice the skill on the "My Turn" page.

For Morning Work, we switched to "Show What You Know" daily review pages.  Students were able to complete these independently while getting a daily spiral review of math and grammar skills!  Every 3rd week there is a brief writing component, which my kiddos looked forward to!

Perhaps my FAVORITE FAVORITE thing is SNAPSHOTS.  I've blogged about these a lot because, as a departmentalized teacher, these have saved my life when it comes to grading!  So quick to give.  SO quick to grade... only a half a sheet of paper can instantly assess standards!

These are available for grades 1, 2, and 3!  Snapshots are my favorite item.  I use them every single week in my classroom!

I also have LOADS of editable buntings so you can customize your decor in your room!  And they're cheap!  There are OVER 40 different styles!

Last thing!  The newest items that I have posted... Common Core connected reading response tasks for grades 3, 4, and 5!  Check them out!

And... don't forget to leave feedback on TpT!  You earn credits that you can put towards purchases!

So... my store is 20% off and if you use the code BTS15 you get an EXTRA 10% off when you check out!

I'm off to enjoy that sale-e-oh-yo!