A Week of Giving THANKS: S for Sharpies

Today is the last day of Blog Hoppin's A Week of Giving T.H.A.N.K.S. linky party. 

The final letter is S so,

It might not be the most original school-related object to be thankful for, but oh do I appreciate these permanent markers. Long before all the AH-MAZING digital clipart and fonts became available on TPT and other sites, I was free-handing my classroom posters and folders...and so much more. And those weren't much to write home about!

Now, I use Sharpies to outline, write, and doodle. 

Hope everyone has enjoyed joining me during this week of showing thanks for the small things that make teaching my passion. 

Check out my previous post what I'm thankful for in my personal life.

I am blessed. 

A Week of Giving THANKS & 5 for Friday

To say I fell off the blogging bandwagon this past week would be an accurate statement. 

I've been linking up with the ladies over at Blog Hoppin' for their A Week of Giving T.H.A.N.K.S. linky party and was doing quite well until Wednesday. 

And now since its Friday and I try my best to link up with Kacey, over at Doodle Bugs Teaching, for her weekly Five For Friday linky, I'm going to make today's thoughts a TWO BIRDS, ONE STONE-kinda post

So here we go...

 Wednesday's letter was A so, 

 I'm super grateful for antibacterial products! Any teacher knows that washing hands (on the regular) is important to decreasing the chances of catching ______(fill in the blank), but when you're in elementary classrooms, it's ESSENTIAL. My poor hands are bone dry throughout the school year, but I don't care. My sick days are minimal and we all know it takes more work to be absent.

Thursday's letter was N so,  

{Above notepads are Kate Spade}

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE notepads.

I mean it's kinda an obsession. 

I almost never walk about of Office Max, Staples, or Target without a new notepad...or a few.

And if I log on to Etsy, I almost always end up with a notepad in my cart. 

If you didn't know, Kacey (Doodle Bugs Teaching) has her own line of adorable paper products:

{Click here or image}

And today's letter is K so, 

When I was younger, my mom would usually tell me to kill people with kindness when I felt I was being treated unfairly or in a mean manner. I didn't really understand why I should be so nice to people when I wasn't be treated in the same way, but thankfully that life lesson was learned. I do my best to pass that non-standards based lesson on to my students. Being nice to those that maybe aren't so nice to you isn't about be a punching bag for others, it's about rising above a behavior and emulating what our Savior, Jesus Christ, has demonstrated. 

Kindness is our body's way of showing others what is in our hearts. 

First linky complete...now on to the next.

 I've completed my latest product:

Let's Play L Blended Games

Here's a sneak peek...

And I've loaded it up onto TPT, but waiting to blog about it unit later.

Spending quality time with my guys this weekend.

 I've been wanting to update my credits page for a long time. 

When I say long time read A YEAR.

Well, I finally sat down on Wednesday and did just that. 

This is the final product and it's a vast improvement over what I had. 

 We went to some friends' home for Thanksgiving yesterday for a potluck style gathering. 

I volunteered for pies.

Toot, toot (that's me tooting my own horn).

Apple and Pecan from a Southern girl. 

 

I'm putting my entire store on sale (20% off) this upcoming Monday & Tuesday for TPT's site wide Super Cyber Savings Sale. With the site's 8% discount, you can save 28% off ALL my products. 

Remember to type in TPTCYBER at checkout...don't forget. 

Get Ready! Go fill up those wish lists and carts. 

Kacey is taking a mini-vacay from the 5 for Friday linky during December, so I'm going to follow suit and do the same. I hope you'll continue to follow my happenings (and upcoming FREEBIES) by following me on 

FACEBOOK

TPT

INSTAGRAM

and/or PINTEREST.

Week of Giving THANKS: H for Helping Hands

Day 2 of Blog Hoppin's A Week of Giving T.H.A.N.K.S Linky Party 

is focused on the letter H.

I'm super grateful for all those extra helping hands that have volunteered in my classrooms over the past years. To say that things could have been difficult without spare hands would be an understatement! I have been so fortunate to have amazing students' parents and family, community members, and friends come to countless field trips, talent shows, and Family Nights to lend their hands to make things run smoothly. Not to mention the wonderful volunteers who have given up their own time to make copies/staple papers, read to students, listen to students read, and so much more. It really is worth saying again "It takes a village..". 

Week of Giving THANKS: T for Tape

Linking up with the gals over at Blog Hoppin' for their 

A Week of Giving T.H.A.N.K.S linky party

Each day, I'll post something I'm thankful for (in my teachy world) based on the letter. Today's letter: T

Sounds weird, I know. 

But have you ever had things literally fall off your classroom walls?

I have.

And it drives me nuts!

A great friend of mine introduced me to 3M's #2020 tape and it's magical. 

By magical, I mean I put something up on those painted cinder blocks and it stays...forever.

Or at least until I pull it down. 

Now I must warn you, the label says "heavy-duty" and "professional strength". 

But it's gentle enough to put on painted walls. No paint chips come off when you pull your posters down. 

So don't worry, your principal or custodian won't be hunting you down, looking for answers about why there are huge bare spots on your classroom walls come this summer. 

Enjoy those beautiful walls ALL year long!

Sunday Savings (Nov. 23) - 20% off EVERYTHING!

A few weeks back, I saw a report on NBC News that stated Black Friday wasn't all that much of a savings to holidays shoppers, as previously thought. In fact, many stores are offering the BEST deals right now...

like literally TODAY! 

So I thought I'd get on board with that logic and mark down my 

ENTIRE STORE (TPT shoppers) by 20%! 

Yep, EVERYTHING is 20% off today and Monday. 

So get shopping...don't wait until Black Friday. 

Want some more really great savings today?

Go here to see what All Things Apple and other wonderful bloggers are offering in their Sunday Saving Circulars. 

You Oughta Know: Read to Me FREE

I'm linking up with Jasmine, over at Buzzing with Mrs. McClain, for 

Here's something I think EVERY teacher should know about.

Have you heard of Read to Me?

(Click here or image to visit website)

I, randomly, came across this great website while browsing Pinterest one evening. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I clicked on the Pin, but boy was I pleased when I did. 

The Clark County Education Association Community Foundation in Las Vegas has built and maintains a FREE online youth reading program that can be accessed by ANYONE!

The website presents fun (and often popular) picture books in
a read-aloud format. 

Stories are read by Las Vegas community members (including it's mayor) and even some famous faces. 

You can easily browse the website for books and find lesson plans to
go along with each story!

Friends, this is a great website for literacy centers (Daily 5 Listen to Reading) and a wonderful resource to pass along to families!

An InLinkz Link-up

>

Super Thankful (Primary Powers linky party)

I'm linking up with the Primary Powers gals for their 

Super Thankful Thread Linky party.

{Click on image to read more}

During this month of thankfulness, 

we're sharing what we're super thankful for. 

I am most grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, who loves me and knows my heart, so much so that HE knows me better than I know myself. Without HIS love, I would be lost in this world and the pain that occurs from day to day would overcome my life. 

I love because HE loved me first! 

And what can I say about these two? Are they my daily motivation to soak up each and every day? Are they two of a kind, in more ways than one? Do they love me despite my faults and my errors? Do I love them beyond measure? Am I eternally appreciative that I was blessed with these wonderful beings? ABSOLUTELY YES!!! 

Let me tell you a small secret about myself! I have one of the BEST support systems!!! My family and friends are the kind of people that would give you the shirts off their backs and drop everything to be at your side if you needed them. I have been so fortunate to have loving parents, terrific grandparents, fabulous in-laws, amazing best friends, and wonderful friends. And here's the best part...they are "there" for me no matter WHERE I am. I could be across the nation and they're only a phone call away or in most cases, a text or FaceTime call. 

So as you can see, my life may not be perfect, but I'm thankful for the people I have in my life. I've been learning to value my relationships over my materials. And in this world, that's not always an easy lesson to learn. 

Five for Friday: November 7

This week has been slightly hectic so Five for Friday has turned into 5 for Saturday...oops!

Finally got my Veterans Day: History of Heroes finished, posted to TPT and the blog, and now I'm ready for next Tuesday.

(Click here to purchase) 

My animals (chocolate lovin' dog and runaway cat) must think of me as Elmyra from Animanics...I can't come up with any other reason they act the way they do. 

I participated in Jungle Learner's Stop, SWAP, and Roll product swap and giveaway. 

Tons of teacher bloggers swapped products, took them for a "test-drive", blogged about them, and now are giving them away to lucky winners. 

It's live now so go check it out. 

(Click here to read about my swap with More than Math by Mo)

We got our family pictures back.

Now to just find a Christmas card design that I like and doesn't break the bank. 

(so happy its the weekend and I don't have a single thing planned...AMEN)

Stop, SWAP, & Roll Product Swap & GIVEAWAY

Over the past few weeks, I've been chatting with Monique over at 

(Click on image to go to her blog)

We've been teamed up by Melissa, over at Jungle Learners, for her 

( Click on image to go to Jungle Learner's Product Swap post) 

There are so many teacher bloggers, from around the country, that have been teaming up to swap products and give you all the great details about what other teachers are doing in their classrooms. 

* * So go check out Jungle Learner's post to see more bloggers sharing! * *

It's an awesome opportunity to talk to other bloggers 

AND...

Monique and I got to pick a product out of each other's TPT stores to try out with our own students. 

She chose The Day the Crayons Quit - RTL & Comprehension Game 

from my store

(go check out her blog to get the inside scoop on how she put 

it to use in her classroom)

*** Hint, hint: I'm putting it on sale until the giveaway ends ***

and 

I chose her Sight Word Practice Puzzles: Pre-Primer Dolch Words 

(click on image to purchase) 

and then that lovely gal sent me her 

Sight Words Bundle: Read, Color, Circle, Create to go along with it! 

(Click on image to purchase)

She knew it would definitely come in handy and 

pairs VERY well with the sight word puzzles!

I, immediately, wanted to put these products to use.

Starting with the puzzles, Monique has offered them in 

3 different printing options:

Full Color - colorful clipart and patterned backgrounds

(I used this option)

Simple Color - printer friendly with colorful clipart, white backgrounds

Full Black & White - copy friendly

Also, she has divided up the Pre-Primer words into five lists of 10 words each.

The lists are split based on word frequency.

The 1st list contains the 10 most frequently used/seen Pre-Primer sight words (the, to, and,...) while the 5th list contains the Pre-Primer sights that are used/seen less frequently (all, on, that,...).

I used the 1st list and prepped the station so that students would have the list of all 10 words in order to insure they completed all 10 puzzles. 

Using the word card of the puzzle, students matched the word card to the word list and read the word. 

This step just helped to keep track of covering each word on the list and reinforcing sight word recognition ; )

Next, using the sight word card, students built the sight word by collecting letter (puzzle) pieces from the rug and assembling them in the correct order to match the word card. 

Once the puzzle was assembled, I asked students to spell the sight word then read the word aloud. 

One of the best things about the Full Color printing option is that the puzzles are self-correcting!

If assembled correctly, the background pattern/color should match. 

This came in handy when this sweet guy tried to use the "o" from for in place of the "o" from you.

Not a huge deal, but the different background color gave him a hint that something wasn't right. 

After assembling all the puzzles, we focused on one of the sight words for extra practice.

Using the printables from the Sight Word Bundle: Read, Color, Circle, Create, we practiced the word the

(Click here to purchase)

These two products are awesome by themselves but man do they really drive the learning home when paired together. 

So now that Monique has let me try out her wonderful sight word products, you should too!

Want a chance to put the SIGHT WORD PRACTICE PUZZLES: PRE-PRIMER to use in your classroom?

Enter our giveaway!

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