Must Read Monday ~ Friendship books

Kindergarten Planet and The Kindergarten Connection are hosting a linky all about reading and this week's topic is books about friendship!

I have been reading some of the posts from the linky and now I want to go shopping on Amazon for some more classroom books!!

Here are a few of my favorite friendship books:

 

Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes is a classic!  I love his illustrations and characters!  This story is great for teaching about not just making friends but about trying new things and not judging each other.  Love, love, love this book!  For all your Kevin Henkes fans, check out my author study here!  

 

Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell is a cute story about a little girl that wasn't like all the other kids in 1st grade.  She is short and has bucked teeth but her grandmother taught her to stand tall and believe in herself.  When she moved to a new school she learned how important her grandmother's lesson really was.  This story is a great way to talk about differences in each other and believing in yourself!  

Making Friends is an Art by Julia Cook is outstanding!  I love all of Julia Cooks books but this one is a great book that is full of character traits and is perfect for talking about friendship and making friends!

Now I'm off to go read some more link ups and then hit amazon for some new friendship books!  :)

Teachers are HEROS!! TPT Sale

Wow, it has been too long since I blogged! :(  My apologies, my sweet little first graders are keeping me super busy!!  

Great news though,  TPT is having a HUGE site wide sale on Wednesday, February 25th.  They are throwing the sale to celebrate teachers!!  I love TPT!  Check out the link below and you can save as much at 28% off your total purchase!! 

Be sure to stop by my store and check out my latest product, Word Work Journal, ever since I started using it my kiddos are more engaged in their word work and I LOVE that I don't have to make copies of 5 sets of word work worksheets every week!!

Thanks and happy shopping!! :)

Maryland Sellers Giveaway

 Yay!  The Giveaway starts today!!  Over the summer I met up with a few Maryland sellers and we started collaborating and came up with this fun giveaway featuring other Maryland sellers!  The giveaway is finally live and will continue until January 24th!  Check out some of the amazing prize packs below!  Enter today!!!

Maryland has some pretty awesome things; crabs, beaches, history and of course our TPT sellers rock too!  

Below you will see some fantastic prize packs from some of these awesome Maryland sellers! 

Click the Rafflecopter link to enter to win the grades K-2 Prize Pack: a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Click the Rafflecopter link to enter to win the grades 3-5 Prize Pack a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click the Rafflecopter link to enter to win the Middle/High Prize Pack: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out these Maryland sellers…

Thanks for entering the fun and good luck!!!

Coming Soon!! Maryland Bloggers Giveaway!

Mark your calendars for a fun Giveaway event on January 17.  The event is featuring some pretty amazing Maryland sellers and some fantastic prize packs for elementary and secondary teachers!!

The fun starts Saturday, so come back for your links of make sure to follow my blog so you will get the updates automatically!

#BookitForward

Wow! It has been so long since I blogged!  Apologies my blogging friends, I just checked out of my little blog for a bit!

Today we did something so fun that I wanted to share the #BookitForward movement with everyone!

Ever heard of Kid President?  He is an adorable little boy who makes these really uplifting YouTube videos about all kinds of fun things from Making the World More Awesome to interviews with President Obama.

Well recently he started a movement of paying it forward in the form of books!

Check out the YouTube video here.

Here are some pictures from my awesome teammate's and my classrooms.  We ordered $1 books from scholastic book clubs and hit the jackpot with A Bad Case of the Stripes and Bad Kitty!   Kids were so happy with their new books!

Check out Kid President and maybe you will be inspired to #BookitForward too!

More Thanksgiving Fun & a few Freebies

I can't believe that it is almost Thanksgiving.  It still feels like it should be October - this year is flying by!   

I have blogged about this fun thanksgiving activity before but this year I have added a few more fun activities to my Pass the Turkey product and wanted to share it again!  

I love projects that involve families and this one is my absolute favorite!  

In social studies we have spent the month sharing about our cultures and learning about each other's family traditions.  This week we will focus on understanding what it means to be thankful and will create Thankful Turkeys to send home for this special project.  

Here are some pictures from last year where students created their turkeys and wrote what they were thankful for.  Once the turkeys were finished they took the turkeys home,  and brought them the table on Thanksgiving day and ask their family what they were thankful for.
We are going to make our Thankful Turkeys tomorrow and  will send  them letter home on to explain this project a remind them to have students bring turkey back to school on Monday. 


  

Here is a completed Thankful Turkey from last year:

The responses were wonderful and filled with love.  I was totally crying by the time we were done sharing!  A few parents told me at the end of the year that the turkeys were one of their favorite projects all year and that they planned on bringing their "thankful turkey" out each year. 


I have just updated my Pass the Turkey Please product to include some other fun activities to do with my kiddies this week!

Hop over to my TPT store to check it out!!  

Here is are a few other fun Thanksgiving FREEBIES!

To go with the Thankful Freebie, here is a link to a safeshare read aloud of the story Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and enjoy spending time with your families!

Wordless Wednesday

I am linking up for the first time with Ms. DeCarbo over at Sugar and Spice for her fun link up called Wordless Wednesday.  

What do you think this little cutie is doing? 

I bet your are right, and I hope it makes you smile today!

Happy Wednesday everyone!!