All I can say is “Awwwww!” ...and that’s exactly the reaction I hear when someone sees our Chickapig writing display. It is so stinkin’ cute to hear about what a six year old dreams of doing someday! 🖤🖤🖤 Check these out...
Hey Brian Calhoun...this little guy ⬆️ might be in the market for one of your cool guitars before long!!
...such big dreams these kiddos have!! Can’t wait to see them follow those dreams!
Hey y'all I'm back with more LITTLE JOE CHICKAPIG talk! If you read my blog post last week then you know about this "treasure" that I stumbled upon at Target. If you missed that post, then just sit back, watch this quick little video introduction and then let me tell you a little bit about it...
Last week I found the most amazing resource for teaching young children the importance of following your dreams... LITTLE JOE CHICKAPIG: A Story About Following Your Dreams! It was released earlier this month & is sold exclusively at Target right now. It is so stinkin' cute!! ...and that plush CHICKAPIG toy...irrisistable!!! Omigoodness!
Soooo...just what is aCHICKAPIG??? Hmmm...CHICK---A---PIG?? That's exactly what I was thinking when I spotted this thing perched up on that shelf in Target the other night. Then I opened up the book and... Ta Da!!!...my question was answered.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! What a cute and unique little dude! ...the perfect character for this story. This adorable rhyming book is written by Brian Calhoun and illustrated by Pat Bradley and Brian Calhoun. In addition to being the author of this book, Brian Calhoun is also a well-respected custom guitar maker. He has apparently made guitar for famous stars, including Keith Urban, Jason Mraz & Dave Matthews just to name a few! WOW!!! He sure knows how to follow his dreams-from guitar maker to children's book author! Rock on Brian!!!
LITTLE JOE CHICKAPIG has a very clear message that ALL children need to hear: Follow your dreams, whatever they may be. (And, as adults, I think its important for us to be reminded of this from time to time also.) As C.S. Lewis said, You are never too old to set a new goal, or to dream a new dream. Some days I'm still trying to decided what I want to be when I grow up! lol ;) As a teacher, I believe that instilling courage & confidence in my students gives them the power to accomplish anything that they set their mind to in this big 'ole world.
What message can kiddos get from this book?
1. Follow your dreams.
2. Have courage to try new things.
3. Listen to advice from your parents, teachers & other grown ups in your life.
4. Work hard.
5. Never give up.
I am so in love with this book & the message that it sends! I really wanted to find a way to extend my students' learning so I decided to create a few extension resources to compliment the story of LITTLE JOE CHICKAPIG. I made several versions of "Follow Your Dreams" writing prompt to match your students' writing levels. This writing craftivity can be easily differentiated for kinders, firsties or 2nd graders.
I used the beginning writer version with my kinders. Here is the finished work from one of my littles...
Just in case you're wondering, this kinder wrote: I want to drive a big monster truck and go to the Monster Jam. This sweet little guy has come so far with his writing this year and all he ever talks about OR writes about OR draws about is monster trucks! I was definitely not surprised to see this was his dream! So darn cute!!
This book is truly one of my favs! I highly recommend that y'all get out and make that Target run & grab yourself a copy! And don't forget to always FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS!
P.S. Be sure to look for the little cow on each page of the book!
Don't miss this y'all! Everything in my TpT shop is on sale... plus you get an extra discount when you add the code BTS2017 at checkout! {August 1st-2nd} Time to get our shop on!!!
Hey y'all don't forget about the TpT's amazing back-to-school sale!!! It is August 3-4 only so it's time to get your shop on!!! My cart is overflowing! Happy shopping!
I'm headed to school to put the finishing touches on my new classroom...can't wait to share the pics!!!
Thank you! THANK YOU!!! A huge thank you goes out to y'all for all of your support! I am super excited to be featured as one of the TpT Milestone Teachers this month! Since tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, I thought that I'd share my Lil Leprechaun Cuties Writing Craftivity....for a few days, it will be a FREEBIE in my Tpt shop. Just click the pic to head over & grab it!
Be on the lookout for those sneaky lil leprechauns!! And don't forget to wear green! :)
It's time to get your shop on! Woo hoo!{Hopefully you survived the Black Friday madness!} I've been getting ready for the Cyber Monday sales & my wishlist is soooo stinkin' long!!!! But that's ok because not only are most TpT shops having sales but TpT is also offering an additional 10% off that! Yep! You heard it right! That means super big savings-just use the CODE CMT12 when you checkout. Everything in my lil TpT shop will be on sale also, so head on over to get yourself some bargins!!!!
Here's a spooktacular treat for all you AWESOME blogging friends....a SALE! Everything in my TpT shop is on sale now thru Halloween night!!! Hope your day is filled with TREATS.... HaPpY HaLLowEeN!
WooHoo! It's sale to get your sale groove on!!! Everything in my shop will be on sale May 6th-8th PLUS...TpT is giving an additional 10% off of the total!
Hey everyone! This is a biggie...a sale that comes around once every 4 years....a LEAP YEAR SALE! Everything in my TpT shop will be on sale February 29th and...{here's the great part!}...TpT will be offering an additional 10% off! Now that's somethin' to leap over! All you have to do is load up your shopping cart starting at midnight February 29th & remember to use the PROMO CODE L2P9Y at checkout. It's that easy! Oh, I can't wait to get my shop on! I will admit, I have a few items OODLES of stuff on my wishlist! Don't waste any time though, because this super sale is for 1 day only! {Eww..I kinda sound like a used car salesman! Ha ha}
Now for some more of the "Seussy Stuff"...
Aren't these just the most cutie-patootiest things you've ever seen? I found them on Pinterest {Oh love LOVE Pinterest!} & I'm making them tonight! It's a little extra treat for my kiddos on Green Eggs & Ham day this week. Some of them aren't so thrilled when I whip out the real green eggs for them to taste! To celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday on Friday, all the kids will get to decorate their own cupcake during lunch time. They just love this..many end up with more sprinkles than cupcake! lol I've also made up a lil "Seussy Snack Mix" for Friday...here it is!
If you would like a copy of this-click HERE! Yum! Ok, I'm going to make a pot of coffee now so I can be awake at midnight & ready to get my shop on!!! Are you with me??? Woo Hoo!!!!
Happy Valentine's Day to all my blogging friends! I am soooo excited because a little bit ago I got "the call"....SNOW DAY!!! WooHoo! I'm not gonna lie-I feel like I'm 8 years old again! I can stay up late...sleep in! {Well, until my kids wake me up anyway! lol} Just why do kids wake up earlier on snow days than on school days?
What do you get when you mix the 100th day, Valentine's Day & Tooth Fairies? ..the February Frenzy! OMIgoodness! almost forgot the presidents! Does anyone else feel like there is a lot to fit into February? Whew! {snow day...snow day...snow day....ahhhhh!}
I've had lots of requests for more non-fiction books, so I put one together for Presidents Day. I just got this lil unit posted yesterday-if you would like to see more, just click on the pic!
And...I'm "sharin' the love" today {to celebrate Valentine's Day!} I'm sharing this lil mini-unit with the first 5 people to give me a lil "Share-the-Love Shout-Out" today! {Don't forget to include your email address so I can send it to ya!}Thanks for the great "Share the Love" shout-outs to all you night owls & early birds! I thought I was the only one that was crazymotivated & blogged during the middle of the night! lol Wish I could share my snow day with everyone too! :)
How much fun can we have in one week?!? Wow! Our 100th day was sooo much fun! I asked the class what they would really like to have 100 of and guess what I heard??? 100 DOLLARS!!! Imagine the surprised look on their faces when I pulled out a big 100 dollar bill with their picture on it! The kiddos wrote about what they would do with 100 dollars. I thought this little guy's was just a hoot! He said, "I would get a car and drive it with my buddies!" Too stinkin' cute!
FREEBIE! Click the pic for a copy of the writing prompt.
Whew wee! I feel like I needed a 3-day weekend-that was one fast & furious week...not sure that the 100th day and Groundhog's Day should be in the same week! As you can see in the pics below, it aged us just a little bit! I'm thinkin' we need a little trip to the spa to get us ready for Valentine's Day! {Do you think we could count that as professional development hours?!?}
Okay...time to start thinkin' about hearts-n-hugs and all kinds of sweet stuff! Valentine's Day is just around the corner and here's a little sneak-peek at my Valentine's Day Fun unit.
If you would like a lil FREEBIE from this unit, just click the pic above. It will take you to my TpT store where you can click "Download Preview" for the Valentine's Day Sentence Scrambler below.
It's just a few short hours until my firsties return to the classroom so this will be a short & sweet post. {Need to get some ZZZs-not looking forward to that alarm in the morning!} I spent a few hours today in my classroom getting ready to begin our unit on penguins. Don't you just love those lil black & white cuties? We're starting off with some non-fiction books and this lil craftivity...
Check out my "Party With The Penguins" unit for this pattern & oodles of penguin centers & activities at my Teachers Pay Teachers or Teachers Notebook shops.
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"!}
