Huge Back to School SALE on TPT

It's officially that time of year again - BTS!

If you're like me, along with getting our own kids ready for school you are getting your classrooms ready too!  Well never fear - TPT is here!  Teachers Pay Teachers is having a site wide sale starting on August 3rd where my whole store will be on sale and TPT is offering an additional discount so you can save 28%!  Now, that is way better than standing in line at Walmart to buy glue sticks and first day of school outfits!

Do like this minion; treat yourself by going to check out the BTS sale at TPT!

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Must Read Monday or Wednesday

Ok so it's not Monday but I am still linking up with Kindergarten Planet and The Kindergarten Connection with their super fun Must Read Monday linky party!!

This week's theme is Just For Fun! If you are like me and you LOVE books then as soon as you read the theme funny books are probably popping into your mind! 

Here are a few of my favorite "Just for Fun" books to read to my sweet little students:

Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox is such a funny book, I ❤ it! Of course it is a fractured fairytale but what makes it so funny is the way Ranpunzel misunderstands everything the prince says to her. One example is when he asks her to throw down her golden locks, she throws him her dirty socks! My kids always crack up when I read this story!!

Julius, the Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes is a hilarious look at sibling rivalry when ✿ Lilly ✿ has a new brother that she does not like! She can't stand anything about him - until someone else doesn't like him and then in her true spirit she champions and defends him! 

Chester by Melanie Watt is a book that I read because I love Scaredy Squirrel and decided to try another one of her books! OMG is it funny! Chester is a cat who thinks the story show be all about him so he hijacks the book and with his red marker ✎, he rewrites the story the way he thinks it should be told! Melanie and Chester go back and forth in a super cute story that has a really funny ending! 

The Monster at the End of This Book is one of my all time favorite ☻ books! I remember reading this book when I was a kid!! Grover is so funny in this story and it is great how he talks to the readers directly, my class always enjoys it! I loved it so much, and even though I knew the ending I would beg my grandmother to read it to me again and again! 

I am off to jump over the this fun linky party that Kindergarten Planet and The Kindergarten Connection have put together so I can find some new books to add to my class library this year!! 

Thanks for stopping by and happy reading!!!!

Kindness in the classroom

As my summer winds down, I find myself thinking about the first week of school!  I LOVE the first week of school!!

One of my favorite activities to do with my students is working collaboratively to set the tone for a kind classroom!  To begin the activity, I hand out the 10 keys and have students work in groups to talk about what each key means.  After 10 minutes or so, we get back together as a class and they share what their groups have come up with.

The 10 keys are:
Be Kind
Be Friendly
Share
Be Helpful
Take Turns
Be Respectful
Do Your Best
Be Patient
Smile
Have Fun Learning

After we have talked about each key, they go up on our Kindness bulletin board!  For the rest of the week, I devote some time to our new mission of creating a kind classroom by reading books, doing fun follow up book study work and finally we create a class book of ways that we can each be kind in our classroom.

What are your favorite books that promote kindness?  I love adding new titles to my collection!

A few of my favorites are:

Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by Carol McCloud

Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli

Kindness Is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler by Margery Cuyler

My Kindness unit is on sale until Saturday, so hop over to my TPT store and snag a copy for your classroom! 

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!