Gingerbread Man Data Collection FREEBIE!

Ooohhhh!!! Run, run, run as fast as you can, so we can catch & eat that gingerbread man! Oh, I know how much excitement is in the air in anticipation of our holiday break (& the kiddos are pretty excited about it too!) Ok, lets be honest-we are all WAY past counting down the days left until break...who else is secretly counting down the school HOURS that we have left?!??? Be honest. lol  Well, we have 21 school hours left...tick..tick..  (You know you're doing it too!!!) Honestly, I love LOVE the students' excitement level this time of year & I just have to work super-duper extra hard to channel all that energy during these next few days. My firsties really enjoy the many different versions of The Gingerbread Man. And there are soooo many different versions...Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread Girl, Gingerbread Baby, Gingerbread Friends, Gingerbread Pirate & the list goes on and on. And have you seen the newest version? The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers! How fun does that sound!?! Our gingerbread data collection/graphing activity is an all-time fav-or-ite! How could it not be?...you get to eat a cookie!!! (Snacks become very important to me the students during these last few school days!) I'm sure this is something that many of you already do, but I figured that I'd share anyway. I've also had oodles of requests for more data collection sheets, so here ya go!

Just click the pic for your data collection FREEBIE!

If you download my lil data collection freebie, just leave me a shout-out to let me know what you think (or just to give a big "Holiday Hey!") Also, if you are still looking for a few last minute holiday activities, I've put all my Christmas stuff on SALE in my lil TpT shop & Teachers Notebook shop from now thru Monday, December 19th! Be sure to check out my "Holly Jolly Elves"-its been a best-seller! Thanks everyone-I really appreciate all of your great feedback!!!

Click the pic to check out the sale on all of my holiday stuff!

Enjoy the last few school hours of 2011 (tick....tick...tick...!!!)

Asking & Telling Sentences

Did your kiddos have a lil extra energy this past week also? I knew I had trouble a challenge on my hands when I turned around to see my quietest student doing a Michael Jackson style break dance on our rug!!! OMIword!!! I guess having a full moon AND our first snow fall all in the same week could have something to do with it!?! lol Well, once I got everyone settled, we started working on one of our morning interactive writing activities where I give the students a word and then they have to use it in a sentence. Then we work together to write it on the easel. (Of course making sure that it has everything that a good sentence needs!) The past few weeks we have been coming up with a telling sentence & an asking sentence. (That can be pretty tricky for firsties!) I just love these sentences that my firsties came up with this past week...

Not bad, huh? Especially after that whole "thriller dance rountine thing" that went on just a few minutes earlier! You gotta love those 7 year-olds!!! Is it obvious that they have reindeer on their brains? :)  I just love LOVE how he is working so hard to get a "good word space" in there! I also made up the lil sentence writing booklets (in the top pic) for my kiddos so they can either copy the sentences that we do together or come up with their own sentences. If you would like a copy of "My Good Sentences Book"-click HERE or on the top pic.

I just couldn't help but share this pic with you...After a snowy morning of chatty goofy wild extremely motivated students, it melted my heart when these 2 sweeties just couldn't wait for me to read the "good sentence" that they made at the magnetic board...Awww! They said, "Is it ok that we used a marker to make that "exquestion mark" cuz we knew you would just love it!" And I did! They were so proud of this...I just had to grab my camera & share it-sooo sweet! (Makes every minute of the full-moon craziness worth it!)

Also, here is my Good Sentences sign/poster (just in case you missed it in an earlier post.)

Click the pic if you would like a copy!

I've had lots of requests for more of my Sentence Scramblers...check back this week for a few more of them! Hope you have a super week with your kiddos!

HELP WANTED! Holiday Writing Activity Freebie

Santa needs help! You know how busy it must be at the North Pole this time of year-so... Santa is now accepting applications for some additional holiday help! Well, my lil first grade elves were just dyin' to let Santa know why this is the job for them! Just check out this...

I just love her 1st sentence! Who doesn't love making dollars and cents!?! Too cute! My friend Danielle passed along a version of this activity that she was doing with her 3rd graders. I just reworked it a bit (just to make it a lil bit easier for my firsties) and added a little holiday picture. Just so happened, we had a little visit from Santa today so I was able to snap a quick pic of each of my kiddos with him! (Worked out pretty good!) We are really working on writing good sentences so after filling out the top part of the application, they had to write 3 good sentences. (A "Good Sentence" must have capital letter, word spaces, punctuation AND make sense! I think I repeat this about a bazillion times everyday! lol) Well, they turned out so stinkin' cute that I decided to hang them in the hallway for all to see! Also, made a cute lil "Help Wanted" Ad (sign) to hang up with them.

If you would like a copy of this lil holiday writing activity FREEBIE, just leave me a lil holiday shout-out & then click HERE or on the top pic!
Hope your kiddos love it too!

Rockin' Reindeer Fun! & a Countdown Sale!

Oh wow-sie, wow! I can't believe that we only have 12 more school days before Christmas break! Ahhhh-oooooo-ahhh!! (That was me screaming with excited just like that Target woman did when she saw the Black Friday sales flyer!!!!) By the way, I just love those Target ads-what a HOOT that woman is! There is just a extra boost of excitement in the air this time of year so...our job is to figure out how to harness that excitement & keep our kiddos engaged for these next couple of crazy weeks! Well, I kind of ran with a teachable moment this week when the topic of Santa's reindeer came up. It began with two of the students discussing reindeer antlers ("Only boy reindeer have them! Na-uh girls can have 'em too!") Can't you just hear this arguement discussion? Well, that "discussion" drew the attention of my entire class! So much for my Reindeer Fact Families activity! lol The kiddos were so interested in these animals that I went to our library to find a non-fiction book on reindeer-no luck. So, that night I decided to write my own non-fiction book about reindeer. One of our school goals is to incorporate more non-fiction reading and what better animal to learn about in December than reindeer!?! Here's a look at my lil non-fiction book.


I printed the book (& of course, added some cutie-patootie ribbon!) but I actually put it up on the Smartboard when I read it to my firsties. OMGoodness! They soooo loved learning about real reindeer. Check out our chart... (see if you can find our fact that only applies to Santa's reindeer!)

I decided to package up this book along with some of my other reindeer/holiday activities in my "Rockin' Reindeer Fun" math & literacy unit. I feel bad since I did not have this ready to go for the cyber Monday sale...so I'm going to have a "Countdown to Christmas" sale. Everything in my TpT & Teachers Notebook shops is on sale through Tuesday (12/6).


Click on the pic to check out this unit!

A big thank you to Amy over at Krazy About Kiddos for giving me the Sunshine Award! That was sooo sweet! Be sure to head on over to check out her blog-its awesome! And check back here this week for some freebies!
Let the countdown to Christmas begin!

Poppin' Into the Holiday Season! and some FREEBIES!

 That cute lil mouse is ready for some holiday adventure in "If You Take A Mouse To The Movies"! Don't you just LOVE these books by Laura Numerhoff??? Me too! This is a great book to use when teaching cause and effect or recalling details. I've done lots of activities in the past that go along with this story and I decided to package them up in this lil unit. Check it out!

Click the pic to check out this unit!

Anyone else excited about Cyber Monday? WoohOOOO! {I'm hoping to find some treasures!} Don't forget that TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS is offering an additional 10% off on 11/28 when you enter the code CMS28 at checkout! And everything in my TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS & TEACHERS NOTEBOOK shops is on sale thru Monday also!

I've just finished up a few more sentence scramblers for the holidays...so.....here's a lil holiday FREEBIE for ya! {If you grab this lil freebie be sure to leave me a shout-out! LOVE to hear from you!}

Click the pic for some HOLIDAY FREEBIES!

Jingle! Jingle! Jingle! I Can Hear Those SALE Bells Ring!!

Oh yeah! I LOVE the sound of a SALE!!! I confess, on Thanksgiving Day I secretly can't wait to finish up the dishes so I can sit down, browse all those black Friday sale flyers and plan my ATTACK! lol Just kidding about the attack thing, but I really do get some sort of crazy thrill with that whole black Friday sale madness. And I really had quite a method to the madness figured out UNTIL this year! What's up with starting these sales at midnight??? That just messed up my entire plan...oh WOWSIE did we ever experience some sCaRy shopping!!! I'll just say, better have on your game face when you enter WalMart at midnight! Wow! We decided to abort our mission and nap for a couple of hours then returned at 2am to an empty store-it was awesome--and, yep! I got the "Black Friday Treasures" that I set out for! Now, for the next big sale...I've already added oodles of goodies to my TpT & Teachers Notebook wishlist so I'm ready for CYBER MONDAY! Jingle, jingle, jingle!!! Let those SALE BELLS ring! EvErYtHiNg in my Teachers Pay Teachers and  Teachers Notebook shops will be on sale Saturday thru Monday! {On Monday Teachers Pay Teachers is also offering an extra Cyber Monday sale...just enter the code CMS28 at check out and receive an extra 10% off!}


Mix & Match patterns for a super-cute holiday writing display!

Check out these cutie-patootie elves!!! My kiddos had a great time making these and now these super-writers are ready to display their letters to Santa!
I also want to give a super big THANK YOU shout-out to Staci over at Going Nutty in First Grade! for sending me the Sunshine Award! You are awesome! Be sure to head on over and check out her blog!

Enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving break! {Hope you're having some good luck finding your "Weekend Sale Treasures"!}

Pizza or Grilled Cheese??? Check out these FUN turkey books!

Have you seen these books??? Well, they are a HOOT! My firsties absolutely loved both of these fun stories. They went right along with our lil Turkey Disguise project. Both stories are about turkeys that are trying to disguise themselves to keep from becoming Thanksgiving dinner. Soooo cute!!! And just guess how the stories end...yep! you guessed it-with pizza & grilled cheese for dinner! The kiddos thought these were yummy choices for Thanksgiving dinner. After reading the stories, we started on a lil data collection in our classroom and here's what we came up with so far...

Two of my cuties were absent today so we will have to finish up our chart tomorrow. I'm predicting PIZZA as the dish of choice!!! I also just finished up an individual data collection sheet for my firsties to do tomorrow. And...here's a lil Thanksgiving FREEBIE copy for all my blogging friends!


Just click the pic for your Thanksgiving Freebie!


Looking for a few more Thanksgiving activities? Check out my new TURKEY TIME FUN unit at Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook!!

And since were all focused on Thanksgiving break...has anyone seen those Black Friday ads yet??? Oohhhh, I think I'm being tempted to venture out into that madness!  Anyone else that brave crazy??? lol

Here's a Ton of TURKEY TIME FUN! (& a Freebie!)

OMIgoodness! I can't believe how fast this month is flying by! (Well... I am kinda anxiously counting down the days til Thanksgiving break! YOU?) Each year I send home a little Turkey Disguise homework project with the students and I'm always amazed at the different ways that the families disguise the turkeys. Of course, it didn't surprise me to see this turkey disguise...

No turkey here!
It's a World Champion St. Louis Cardinals baseball player!

And those of you out there that are lovin' that zebra print...

No turkey here!
Just a zebra wearing a pink tutu!!! LOVE IT!

If you've got a lil gobblin' goin on in your classroom during the next couple weeks, then you might want to grab this pocket chart center FREEBIE!

Just click the pic to download

Give me a shout out and let me know if your kiddos like this lil Thanksgiving center. If your interested in more... check out my "TURKEY TIME FUN" unit at Teachers Pay Teachers or Teachers Notebook.

Hope you have a great week with your kiddos! (Check back later this week to find out what happens to our turkeys!!!)

And the WINNERS are...

Drumroll, please! The 3 winners of my giveaway are.....

Congrats to you guys! Got Cassie's email-Sarah & Grade ONEderful, just leave me a lil shout out with your email address and I'll sent my owl unit right out to you! Thanks so much to everyone for entering the giveaway. Be sure to check back this week for more FREEBIES. (I'm working real hard to get my turkey unit finished!!!) Well, its time to get bed (this time change thing really messes me up!) I need to be well-rested for my firsties in the morning!

Don't forget...EVERYTHING at my Teachers Pay Teachers & Teachers Notebook shops is on sale through Monday! Have a fabulous week!!!

Now this is something to HOOT about!

Hey! Just finished up my Owls & Woodland Animals Unit! I will be giving away a copy to 3 of you AmAzInG followers tomorrow! If you haven't entered my giveaway yet, HURRY-just a few short hours left. Also EVERYTHING at my Teachers Pay Teachers & Teachers Notebooks shops is on SaLe through Monday! You have to check out these AdOrAbLe owl glyphs that my firsties finished up yesterday...

They turned out sooo stinkin' cute!!! As a matter of fact, I thought they did such a great job that I spent about 3 hours last night trying to figure out how to use them to illustrate my "Guess Who?" owl facts book". (Good thing the Mr. fell asleep early on the couch-gave me the chance to spend some quality time with my computer! lol) Check out how cute they look on this book!!!

I can't wait to see my kiddos faces when I reread this book to them, but this time it will have pictures of their owls in it! Gosh I just LOVE it when my firsties get so excited about learning!! Here's a pic of the chart that we filled out after reading several non-fiction books about owls. I also made a student-version of this-just click on the picture below for a FREEBIE!

Just click on this pic to download your FREEBIE!

Here's a little preview of my new unit-just click on pic if you want to see more!

It's Time for a Celebration Giveaway!

It's time to celebrate over 300 AmAzInG bloggers!!! You guys are awesome!!! I really REALLY LOVE all of the great connections that are being made through the blogging community. It's just incredible to see how everyone shares ideas and has such a passion for teaching! Yeah for teachers!!! Well, with Halloween behind us, I am super-duper excited to start my owl unit with my firsties. One of my absolute favorite books is "Owl Babies" by Martin Waddell. I have used this book with kiddos in preK all the way up to 2nd grade and....yep! they ALL LoVeD it! Those baby owls are so darn cute, especially that little Bill! I've been working to put together a bunch of owl activities in my new unit & should have this ready by the weekend-just in time for my GIVEAWAY!

Ok, so here's the scoop...
You can have up to 5 chances to win: Sorry, contest has ended. Thanks!

1. follow my blog
2. follow my Teachers Pay Teachers shop
3. follow my Teachers Notebook shop
4. blog about this giveaway (or tell a friend if you don't have a blog)
5. add me to your blogroll

Just leave me a comment for each of these things (include your email please!) and 3 winners will be chosen using the random number generator. Hurry-contest starts now & ends Sunday (Nov 6th) at 12am. Ready...set...GO!!!

S'more Halloween Goodies!

Happy Halloween! Just finished up my lil Halloween goody bags for my kiddos & just had to share it with you! I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to make a little card to hook on top of the bag and they turned out BOO-tiful!

I just filled a ziploc bag with a graham cracker, mini Hershey's bar & a ghost peep. (Those peeps are around for just about every holiday!) Then I printed out the card, folded it over the top of the ziploc bag & stapled! Ta da! A quick-n-easy Halloween treat!!! Just click HERE if you would like a copy of the card! Hope you have a SPOOK-TACULAR day!

Fact Family Math Center FREEBIE!

Hey all!!! Gonna apologize right now because I feel like I should be posting a little more often but I feel like I have a bazillion things that I'm trying to juggle right now! (I confess, between everything at school & my own kiddos, I haven't even had time to do real grocery shopping in quite some time-Hello Pizza Hut delivery!) Whew! Are you feeling those stresses too???

How 'bout those FACT FAMILIES? We have been working on relating addition to subtraction so I decided to bring out those french fries again. Back in September I posted a FRENCH FRY ADDITION FACT FREEBIE that I used with my firsties to practice addition. This time I'm using those french fries to practice building related math facts. This seemed to be just the ticket for some of my kiddos that were struggling a bit with this concept.



Click the pic to download your FREEBIE center!

Oh ya, it is a FREEBIE! (I just LOVE freebies! They're almost as good as a shoe sale!!! Don't ya think?) If you download this center, I just ask that you leave me a lil comment below. All your great feedback really helps me out when I'm creating new activities!!!

Ok, I'm gonna try to sneek in a few minutes of Pinterest before I go to bed. That site has got me seriously addicted!!!