New Year's Goal Setting Craftivity {English or Spanish!}

Is 2012 really almost over?  To be honest, this year has been good but has definitely had it's share of challenges.  I am ready for a fresh start in 2013, how about you?  I like to start out the school year by setting goals with my firsties, so I created this New Year's Craftivity to use with them.  I plan on saving their work for student led conferences in the spring so that they can show their parents their goals for the new year.  Included are:  the craftivity pieces to make a boy or a girl, a graphic organizer for brainstorming, and several choices of writing paper for primary or upper grades.  I would love for you to check it out in English or Spanish on my TpT store!  Here are some photos for you :)

What are your new year's resolutions/ goals?  I would love for you to leave a comment and share!

Donations for Sandy Hook Elementary

My heart is so heavy for the families and friends of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy. I really want to help, but don't have a money tree growing in my back yard.  After brainstorming for a bit, I decided to do a giveaway.  For each $5 that is donated to the Sandy Hook Elementary School Support Fund, you will gain one entry to receive ALL of the products from my TpT store in English, Spanish, or both.  Click here to donate.

I will pick one winner a day for seven days starting on Tuesday, December 18th.  Even if you are not a teacher, please enter.  Certainly there is a teacher in your life that you could pass these products along to.  Please share this in any way that you can, and feel free to use the image below.  In the meantime, let's continue to lift up the families and the Newtown Community in our prayers.  I am praying that God wraps His peace and comfort around them in this most difficult time and brings many people to know Him as a result.  Thank you in advance for your prayers and generosity.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

Family Christmas Project

We love family projects in first grade, so this year we sent an ornament template home for the kids to decorate and send back to school.  My coworker found the cute ornament template online, and you can find it too by clicking here.  The ornaments came back super cute;   here is a picture of them on first grade's Christmas tree:

You can grab the note that I sent home here, and then save it and edit it to your liking.  Do you send a family project at Christmastime?  If so, leave a comment and let me know!

Flapjack's having a giveaway!

I absolutely adore Flapjack's resources.  Tabitha Carro creates awesome titles in both English and Spanish, and is SO creative!  Head on over to her blog to enter for your chance to win an item of your choice from her store :).  {Just click the image below}

Christmas is in the air + Freebie

It's been a little while since my last blog post-- the Christmas season is upon us and things are starting to get busy! Last week we were talking about sequence, so to tie it in with Christmas the kids wrote the sequence of how to wrap a Christmas present in their journals. They made a present out of ribbon & construction paper to go along with it, and I was pleasantly surprised that I only had to help one student tie the bow on the ribbon!

Tomorrow we are playing the Santa's Sleigh File Folder Games to practice short i words in English and words with za, ze, zi, zo, and zu in Spanish.  It is free on my TpT store, so you are welcome to grab a copy in English or Spanish!  If you get a chance to rate it that would be fantabulous :)  T minus 19 days till Christmas...

HUGE 100 follower Giveaway!

I am so excited to have finally reached 100 followers!  Thank YOU for taking the time to follow my teaching blog.  I started blogging over a year ago and stopped because I was overwhelmed.  This August, I decided to start blogging again thanks to some encouragement from a fellow blogger {shout out to Candis!}  

So... I decided to host a massive giveaway as a thank you to the people who have followed me on my blog, FB page, TpT store, and pinterest.  Thank you to all of the wonderful teachers who donated their products to make this giveaway happen.  I have found out that teachers are incredibly generous people!

Absolutely anyone is welcome to enter the giveaway, and you can enter for one or all of the prize packs.  All I ask is that you are honest and follow the blogs, TpT stores, FB pages, etc. of the teachers who contributed if you are entering.  Please feel free to use the graphic above with a link to my blog on your site to advertise the giveaway!

Prize Pack #1:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Prize Pack #2:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Prize Pack #3:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Christmas Prize Pack:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cyber Monday & Tuesday Sale!

Well, Thanksgiving break is slowly coming to an end.  I've spent my days sleeping in, eating yummy breakfasts prepared by my husband, spending all day in my pajamas, crafting, decorating for Christmas, and overeating.  I'd say this break has been a success!  I do LOVE the Christmas season, though, so I am excited about the next few weeks.  I see lots of baking in my future :)

I am participating in the Cyber Monday + Bonus Tuesday sale on the TpT website coming up.  Hopefully you'll stock up on some items from my store and others.  Click the cute graphic below to check out the linky party that the 3 AM teacher is hosting to see which seller's are participating in the sale.

I just finished my Christmas Math File Folder Games and hope you will check them out!  I have them available in both English and Spanish at my TpT store.  Included are 4 math file folder games related to addition/ subtraction to 18 and place value to 99.

Decorate the Tree:  Students draw an addition fact card.  If they have the answer on their tree, they cover it with a bean.  If not, they forfeit their turn.  The first player to cover all of their ornaments wins.

Build a Snowman:  Read the description of the number on the snowman {for example:   I have 8 tens and 7 ones}  Match the correct hat to the snowman.

Santa's Workshop:  Each elf has three gifts.  Help the elves to order the numbers on the gifts from least to greatest.

Search for Santa's Hat:  Draw a subtraction fact card.  If you answer it correctly, move forward the number of spaces that the card says.  If not, stay where you are.  The first person to reach Santa's hat wins!

Happy Shopping :)

Thankful

I have so much to be thankful for, so I am linking up with a Year of Many First's to blog about it!

1.  My family:  I love living close to both mine & my husband's families.  They are wonderful.

2.  My husband:  Chad & I have had our ups and downs over the last 4 1/2 years of marriage, but through it all we have grown closer together.  I love that he makes me laugh on a daily basis!

3.   My church family:  We have found the most amazing group of believers to walk through life with.

4.  A roof over my head and food to eat:  I take this for granted daily, but am reminded at this time of year how much of a blessing it is to have my basic needs met.

5.  Amazing girlfriends:  I love sharing life with them.  I am blessed to have great friends from high school, college, and church

6.  My students:  I have the sweetest group of kids this year and love that I get to make a difference in their lives each day
{sorry, no picture since I'm not allowed to put pictures of my kiddos on the internet...}

7.  My job:  I am grateful that in this economy, I have a place to go to work every day.  I love teaching!

8.  My puppy:  Our little Lucy is so spunky & sweet.  She is definitely our furry child.

9.  My education:  I am grateful to have been able to attend Texas A&M and to have my education paid for.  What a huge blessing that I take for granted each day.

10.  TpT & the teacher blog world:  I have found amazing fellow bloggers this year and I am loving the community of teachers out there.  I am thankful to those who take a chance on buying my products and follow my blog, TpT store, or FB page.  Which would be you if you are reading this :).  A big thank you from me to you-- and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving Game Board Freebie & Sale

T minus 9 days until Thanksgiving!  I love this time of year, and I especially love having a whole week off work to relax.  I created a Thanksgiving Game Board in English and Spanish that you can use in your classroom with math facts, sight words, or review questions. I hope you find it useful!

Also, there is just one more day to take advantage of the 20% off sale in my TPT store!  Thank you to everyone who has already purchased items & left feedback.  I appreciate you :)

Gig 'em & WHOOP! {Sale}

I am so proud of my Aggies for winning against the #1 team Alabama yesterday!  I had planned on working on items for my TpT store during the game, but that didn't happen because I was too busy yelling, screaming, and running around the living room.  In honor of the incredible Aggie victory, I have decided to throw a sale in my TpT store.  This would be a great time to purchase some items!  If you would like to celebrate the Aggie win, feel free to use the photo below to host a sale in your store as well.  Thanks and Gig 'em friends :)

Fabulous Fall Giveaway

I am participating in a giveaway on the Classroom Compulsion blog and you won't want to miss out!  There are 6 prize pack giveaways with some great items up for grabs.  Check it out here.

!

Predict & Summarize {Freebie}

In first grade, we teach predicting & summarizing all year long.  And I love foldables.  So... I decided to create a freebie to teach predicting and summarizing using a foldable, a graphic organizer, and a craftivity.  Here are a few pictures of the activities included in the free pack {available in both English & Spanish}:

We had academic night at school tonight, so I'm pooped.  That's all for tonight-- goodnight & sweet dreams blog world :)

Thanksgiving unit

Have you ever read the book "Gracias the Thanksgiving Turkey" by Joy Cowley?  It is so cute!  The basic premise is that a dad buys his son a turkey and asks him to take care of it until they eat it on Thanksgiving.  The boy names the turkey Gracias and really grows to love him.   At the end of the book, the family eats chicken for Thanksgiving dinner and Gracias joins them in the Thanksgiving festivities.  I especially LOVE this book because it comes in both English and Spanish. {You can buy it on Amazon for $7 or less if your library does not have it}

I created a mini-unit in both English and Spanish that you can use with your students when reading this book.  One of the activities is a turkey sequence craftivity.

Also included is a file folder game to review short a and short e words {pictured below}.  The game pieces are rectangles with short a and short e words that the students have to read and put in the correct spot.  In the Spanish version, the same game is included except it is to review word with c:  ca, ce, ci, co, cu.  I find my students really need practice with these syllables since the c makes a hard or soft sound depending on the vowel that follows it.  On one side students put words with ca, co, cu and on the other side words with ce and ci.

Also included in the mini-unit are 

• thanksgiving vocabulary cards
• a singular and plural booklet based on Gracias the Thanksgiving turkey
• a template to make a class book called "My Pet Turkey"
• a character description activity:  "Have you seen Gracias the Thanksgiving turkey?" 

I hope you'll check it out on my TpT store-- I will send a free copy to the first person who comments with their email address below!  {just make sure to let me know if you would like it in English or Spanish}

Pumpkins galore!

Well... I know this post is a little late but I've been very busy eating Halloween candy.  Seriously, we have way too much laying around our house.

Every year we send home a letter asking kids to decorate a pumpkin like their favorite book character, and we got some seriously cute ones back this year.  Here are a few pictures:

Dia de los muertos

This Thursday and Friday, November 1st and 2nd, is when "El Dia de los Muertos" is celebrated in Mexico.  I love exposing my students to cultural celebrations from around the world, and for some students in the dual language program this holiday is not celebrated in their families.  Here is a link to some info about the holiday.

Last year, my students made this skeleton craft and it turned out super cute.  I look forward to doing it again this year!

I also found this amazing blog with many great ideas of activities to do in your classroom related to "El dia de los muertos".  How do you plan on celebrating it with your students?