Happy Birthday!

Yay, it's my birthday! To celebrate, I've made my Cupcake Birthday Bulletin Board Set FREE....just for today. Enjoy :)

If you're celebrating something special ~ a birthday, blog anniversary, a certain milestone, etc. ~ feel free to link up your blog post below.

Decor & More Part 2

48 hours from now the first day of school will be all over and another year will be under way. Today I spent a couple of hours finishing up my classroom and getting everything ready for my new little second graders. I took a few pictures to share.

This is our library area with all the baskets and book holders I spray painted. I really LOVE my label holders from Really Good Stuff! We have lots of bean bags to make it a comfortable place to read.

Now I just love this part of the room! It's where we keep all the school supplies and materials for centers. I created labels for the supplies so everything is coordinated. The little white drawers sittting on top is our "Crayon Condo". It's a home for lost crayons. Whenever someone finds or needs a color, they can visit the condo.

This picture show another view of the classroom (where our tables for centers are located), my chapter book organizers, and then the clocks. These are great! I got them at the Dollar Tree and the kids can refer to them to see what time we go to specials or lunch. Now they don't have to ask me every day and it's helping them learn to tell time.

This next picture show the wall alphabet we made by decoupaging letters from Hobby Lobby. On the right are our cubbies. I was trying to show how we used colored duct tape to frame them. Each table is assigned a color and all of their supplies go in the matching cubbies.

Finally, pictures of our bulletin boards. We did them in black with bright accents. I am so happy with how they turned out. The big empty one is where we posted our rules after I took the picture.

So that's a tour of my new classroom. I really like it and hope the kids do too on Monday. Now don't forget, TpT's big back-to-school sale starts at midnight!  The promo code is BTS13 which will give you an extra percentage off the already 20% that I'm giving on all my products. Here are a few of my new and updated items...

    

Have fun shopping and don't forget to use the coupon code! Don't ever pay full price is my motto!

Non-Fiction News Review & the BIG SALE!!

I recently participated in a product swap and I was so lucky to get matched up with Cecelia Magro! She has an awesome store on TpT full of 145 awesome products. The item I got to review is called Non-Fiction News: Common Core Reading and Writing K-2 Farm Edition. Here is what it looks like...

This is a wonderful, Common Core aligned packet for primary grades. It includes non-fiction passages about various farm animals in both easy and harder versions for differentiation. One of my favorite features of this pack is the abundance of text features used in the reading passages and a workbook to go with them. I know my students can use all the practice they can get using text features!

To go along with the passages are tons of activities and resources. There are graphic organizers and guided response sheets, 10 day (TEN DAYS!) of lesson plans for writer's workshop, posters, and center activities. 

After reading and learning about farm animals, your students will be able to research and write about animals, all while meeting Common Core ELA Standards, which Mrs. Magro has conveniently included in this pack. 

I love that the activities include photos of real animals along with the cute clip art. Another bonus is the clear, easy-to-read font. I am super excited to use this pack with my second graders! Oh wait, you don't teach second grade? That's okay! The activities are differentiated, so you'll find things to use with your kinders and firsties too. So go check out Mrs. Magro's store where I know you'll find some great things! Don't forget to check out her blogs, too. She has one called I Love 1st Grade and another called Mrs. Magro's First Grade. What a busy teacher she is!

Now in other news, it's what we've all been waiting for... the big Back to School Sale on TpT!! I am so ready to start shopping! Most sellers (myself included) are offering up to 20% off of everything in their stores and you can save even more when you use code BTS13 at checkout. The sale runs all day Sunday and Monday, so you have plenty of time to fill up your wishlist. Happy shopping!

Friday Night Flash Freebie

Get it before it's gone...or not free anymore.  This is a sight word game for small groups using the Dolch 2nd grade word list.

Please let me know what you think :)

Whoa, that's a BIG classroom!

I was finally able to get into my new classroom this week. The new carpet is in, the walls have been painted, and they even fixed the a/c (which we might DIE without down here in Florida!).

I wanted to show off my library area with my new baskets and the little book cases I painted, so I took a few pictures. You just won't believe how HUGE my room is! Here is one side where we have 34 desks, a reading table, and 2 teacher desks...

And here's the other side where we have a computer area, 5 tables for centers, and another reading table...

Then right in the middle is our meeting area and library. Here's the library showing my bins and the bookcase I painted black and the little organizers I painted green. I have since added a few more and filled them all with books. At some point, I'll paint the other bookcases black too.

Now, only ten more days of summer, so I better get my kitchen finished up!