New Common Core resource for Counting and Cardinality!

I am so excited to finally tell you about the new product I just put in my TPT store, Counting Tools for Back to School {A Counting & Cardinality Activity Pack}. I have been working on this for SO long... literally all summer! Every time I thought I was done, I'd think of another thing to add to it! Everything in this unit is connected to a common core standard in the counting and cardinality domain. Some of the things you will find in this pack include classroom decor, classroom resources, number assessments, number concept activities, math games, math stations, one-to-one correspondence activities, and more! It was created with beginning of the year kindergarten standards in mind, but you could use any of these activities for review or small group work all year. I can't wait to use this with my students! Here's a sneak peek of most of the activities/resources found in this pack:

The first thing I'll be using with my students are a couple of the number ID/number writing assessments...6 different kinds are included to help you see what your kids know at the beginning of the year!

Click on the picture below to go to my TPT store and check it out!

The Civil Wars (sniffle) and a Product Giveaway!

Good morning! I'm sitting here listening to the new Civil Wars album and practically crying cause it's so sad. Why must they be at odds? They are amazing. Anyone else out there lamenting this with me? Love them.

In other news, tonight is my first school event of the year - Kinder Curriculum Night. This first initial meeting is for parents only and we give them the lowdown on kindergarten. There is so much information for these newbie school parents that we made the event separate from Meet the Teacher night a few years ago and it made our lives so much easier! I'm delaying going into school and working since I have to be there so late... hence this blog post! ;)

The real reason I'm posting is to let you know that I am participating in a giveaway hosted by The Sassy Classroom, where you can win my newest product, Easy as ABC! {Alphabet Activity Pack}!

But that's not all! You can also win some great back to school products from 6 other great teachers, too! Click on the giveaway picture below to go check out a great new blog and enter to win some amazing products for the new school year!

Classroom Organization and Labels FREEBIE!

Have cobwebs collected on this little blog yet? Things are always slow going in the summer, but the first day of school is inching closer which means I've been hard at work preparing stuff for this new school year! One of my goals for this summer was to completely organize my classroom from top to bottom, so I went in extra early this year and began the long process of purging, giving away, and re-organizing every little thing in my classroom. You know how things always get worse before they get better when it comes to cleaning? Well, that was me, to say the least. Talk about piles everywhere as I took everything out of shelves and cabinets. It's taken a few weeks, but I am pretty much COMPLETELY done! It is such a good feeling! I've got one more week left before school starts, so I feel so happy that I can just focus on lesson planning, prepping things for my new class, and getting things ready for meet the teacher night... and NOT cleaning!

One of the things I did to help myself get more organized was create classroom item labels for things in my room. I love how they turned out! Here's a picture of some of my labels in action:

And good news! I've put them as a freebie for you in my TPT store! And, because I love you, if you plan on using the labels and find that you need one made for items in your classroom that are not included in the file, just leave a little comment/question on the product page for me and I will update the file (within reason) with the label you need.

Click on the picture below to get your freebie labels with a chalkboard flair! Hopefully they will make you feel as newly organized as they did for me. :)

Super Sale and Throwback Thursday!

Happy Independence Day! In celebration of America's freedom, I'm throwing a 20% off sale in my TPT shop for today only! Lots of other great bloggers are, too! Click on the button below to go straight to my store and check it out!

Credit: Ashley Hughes, KPM Doodles, Cara Carroll

I'm also linking up with Cara over at The First Grade Parade for Throwback Thursday! Read below for an old post from September 2012... there's a free labeling activity in there, too, so feel free to read and download!

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{September 2012}

Well, a month and a half into school and we have been rockin' and rollin' with ourselves! My class has been amazing and they keep impressing me every single day with their learning. I'm currently knee-deep in benchmark testing for the first time this year, but in the meantime we've been busy working on colors, beginning sounds, letters, writing skills, shapes, and counting. One thing I like to do to help my kids practice their early writing skills at the beginning of the year is labeling activities. I'll usually post the words either on the word wall, at the writing center, or on the whiteboard for the kids to use as references to label their pictures. For some reason, when we do these labeling activities, their handwriting turns out more beautiful than anything they've ever written before! I made up an activity sheet and matching word cards for our latest labeling activity we did this week using animal naming words. I hung up the four word cards on the board for them to look off of:

Then, using them as a reference, they labeled their animals on the activity sheet and then colored the picture.

You can download the animal naming words labeling sheet and word cards for FREE here on Google Drive (formerly Google Docs!): 

Animal Naming Words Labeling Sheet** (read note below about printing)

Animal Naming Word Cards

**One thing to note about the Labeling sheet - I made it to be printed on LEGAL-sized paper, so you'll have to manually go in on the PDF and change it to print on that size or else it will automatically print it to 8 1/2x 11 paper. Hope that makes sense! I wanted the kids to have as much room as possible to write their words.

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That's it! Click on the picture below to join in Cara's linky!

Five for Friday {June 14}

I think this is the earliest in the day I have ever posted my Five for Friday entry... woohoo! Normally I'm just getting it shoved in at 10pm that night. So nice having Summer break! Link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching and join in! I love it cause it keeps me blogging even when there isn't really any school-related shenanigans going on... and it's fun to find out about more great blogs!

1. I got inspired to start working on some new units while I have tons of free time this summer - you know how it is once school starts, it's hard to find time to do anything! I just posted this new packet in my TPT store: Easy as ABC {Alphabet Activity Pack}! It has activities that are perfect for introducing letter concepts at the beginning of the year! It includes Trace, Write, Find, Cut activity sheets for every letter, 2 different sets of alphabet wall decor, ABC mini-books, flash cards, and more! Click on the preview picture below to check it out!

2. I mentioned in my last Five for Friday post that my cousin was coming into town from the Air Force, well she's here (today is the day she leaves again, actually)! Once or twice a year, me, my two cousins, aunt, and my mom go on a huge all-day shopping trip... it's a fun tradition for us all to spend time together! Here's some of the fun stuff I found.. I was so excited to find some cute dresses at Target!

3. And speaking of shopping, I ventured out to Ikea one day this week! I love this store! So happy they built one here. I got some stuff for my kitchen, but also stuff for my classroom too! I think you can tell which 3 items go with my classroom... they're the stuff that's the most colorful! Haha! I got some great storage containers in the children's section along with a pack of plastic plates for my kitchen center.. 6 plates for $1.99! I also got some more round trivets for cork board crafting purposes. :)

4. Last night I had a game night/hang out with a bunch of friends and I was in charge of the dessert! So I busted out a recipe I've had pinned on Pinterest for awhile now, but have never made... Monster Cookies! I think they are originally from Paula Deen, but I got the recipe from Cara Carroll over at Pearls, Handcuffs, & Happy Hour (she's so amazing she has not one, but TWO fantastical blogs). They were delicious! In the words of one of my friends after tasting one, "These are the way God intended cookies to be made." Woah! Talk about my best cooking compliment ever! Haha!

5. Tomorrow morning I am going to see Man of Steel... I am so excited! The previews look AMAZING. I hope the movie lives up to the hype! And hello, actor who plays Superman that I don't know your name... that is one good looking man! ;)

Happy Friday, everyone!!

Easy as ABC {Alphabet Activity Pack}!

Even though it's summertime, it's never too early to start thinking and preparing for the upcoming school year. We are getting a new reading series next year - Houghton Mifflin Journeys - that is going to bring a lot of new things to the table - a big change after knowing our last reading series like the back of my hand! One thing that doesn't change, though, is alphabet and letter activities. No matter what reading series comes along, you can use so many great resources to supplement and make it a lot more fun to teach and learn! I got to working on a new resource that I just posted on TPT: Easy as ABC {Alphabet Activity Pack}! I worked really hard to make resources that would be easy and functional for both student and teacher! In this activity pack, you will find a full color picture flash card set with all 26 letters; Trace, Write, Find, Cut activity pages for all 26 letters; and ABC Word Mini-Books for all 26 letters including color posters to go along with each one! Great for students to use as a reference while they are creating their books! And don't worry, I didn't forget about creating something for YOU, too -- included are 2 different alphabet wall decor sets for your classroom in both wood grain and turquoise chevron! Click on the preview picture below for a more detailed look:

The Trace, Write, Find, Cut activity sheets are great for your kids to use when introducing letters - it works on concepts such as letter identification, writing, and beginning sounds! With the mini-books, I created the posters to go with them so that your Pre-K and kinder kiddos can start doing some independent work even at the beginning of the year! There are so many uses for the activities included in this packet. To go see the alphabet pack in my store, click on the picture below!

 

 

If you kept reading this far, good job! The first person to comment on this post will get my new pack for FREE! Just leave your e-mail when you respond. :)

Five for Friday {June 7th}

Summer is in full swing! But it's Friday, which means I still have to post and participate in Doodle Bugs Teaching Five for Friday linky!

1. For my friend's birthday, I wanted to make her something cute and crafty, so I decided to make one of the fabric-covered cork boards that I've had pinned on Pinterest for awhile now. It was SUPER easy to make, and cheap too! I already had a few of the round hot plates from Ikea on hand, and I went to Hobby Lobby for the rest: chevron fabric, burlap flower, and a glue gun! Cost me a grand total of $9.00! I love how it turned out. I made one for my mom's birthday, too, and pinned a couple of gift cards inside small paper envelopes to hers.

2. On Wednesday night I had the privilege to see one of my favorite bands live -- Mumford and Sons! The only downside was that there were SO many people there - it was a huge outdoor venue...plus I was in the boonies! But they were amazing live! 

3. Now that school is out, I have more time to cook and try out new recipes. I've been glued to The Pioneer Woman's blog because, hello, her food is amazing. I tried out the breakfast quesadilla and it was, wait for it.... AMAZING. Go make it... now! Don't worry that it isn't even time for breakfast! ;)

4. Of course I haven't completely stopped thinking about school. I started creating a new alphabet activity pack to use for the beginning of next year! I'm going to post it on TPT soon! Just need to create a few more goodies to finish it off!

5. My cousin is coming into town from the Air Force today! I haven't seen her in over 6 months. She is like a sister to me, so I am super excited! We already have a ton of things planned for next week with our families. Can't wait!