SecondGrade Smartypants are TOADALLY Awesome!

A few weeks back, I teamed up with Melissa over at Jungle Learners 

for her second PRODUCT SWAP.

(Click image or HERE to find out about more products)

I took part in her first one; I was so fortunate to meet Monique over at More Than Math by Mo and get to try out her Sight Word puzzles AND printables. 

This time around, I got the opportunity to swap with Katie and Lisen over at Second Grade Smartypants! 

(Click image or HERE to visit Second Grade Smartypants)

These two ladies have so many amazing products in their TPT store
...it was honestly hard to choose just 1 product to try out. 

After some consideration, I opted for their Valentine's Day Craftivity Unit!

And I was NOT DISAPPOINTED. 

(Click image or HERE to purchase)

These two gals made craft and writing templates for 5, yes 5, different valentines. 

...and a boombox.

I was planning to have several students, from the local elementary school, pick out their favorite templates and then gather up all the supplies and let them create valentines for their teachers. 

BUT BLIZZARD JUNO had other plans. Namely, creating 3 days of snow and restricted traffic (yep, RI banned driving for all except emergency vehicles and plow trucks). 

So I went with option B...gather up some friends' kiddos (plus mine) and stick to one template: I TOADALLY Love You Toad

Katie & Lisen's crafts are made with construction paper which is what I had planned on using, but closed stores made that slightly impossible. Another option is having students color the templates. It works, but it does require more time and you need to remind students to CUT first then COLOR (I didn't and so they colored the sides with labels...oh well). 

Also, if you're going with the coloring option, I suggest using card stock (I did) and it makes cutting easier for those younger kiddos. All of the templates have thick black outlines so even if your students haven't mastered the art of perfect cutting yet, their final products won't be too far off!  

After all the coloring & cutting was complete. These "toadally" awesome kids assembled the pieces (with gluesticks) and made the cutest lil' frogs you might ever see.
I really appreciated how simple the assembly process was! And I didn't even make an example for them to see, I just verbally walked them through the steps. 

The older girls used the writing template to tell their parents why they TOADALLY love them. 

You want to win this awesome unit in time for Valentine's Day?

Enter my giveaway for Second Grade Smartypants' product.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

WANT ANOTHER CHANCE TO WIN MORE PRODUCTS?

Katie & Lisen selected my CONSONANT COMBOS: INITIAL BLENDS, DIGRAPHS, & TRIGRAPHS pack. Head over to their blog to read how they used it and enter to WIN IT!

Now, go see what other teachers swapped and enter to win more giveaways!!!

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!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

1/2 off Week : A half way through OCT sale

We're half way through October...can you believe it?

I feel like we should celebrate that fact!

So this week is 1/2 off Week at The Take Home Teacher's TPT store!

This week, I've slashed the prices of 3 BIG (lots of pages!) products.

#1

5-Alarm Fire Activities 

(normally $7) 

SALE price: $3.50

#2

The Day the Crayons Quit Response to Literature & Comprehension Game 

(normally $8) 

SALE price: $4

#3

Put Me In Coach ELA, Reading, & Math pack 

(normally $20) 

SALE price: $10

Now, go half-way celebrate with your half-priced product(s)!

Oh! Don't forget to ENTER the Apple Pickin' Giveaway too.

You only have a few days left!

Apple Pickin' GIVEAWAY

I got a pretty neat opportunity early last week. 

I was able to volunteer as a chaperone for my son's very FIRST field trip.

It doesn't seem like such a big deal, but I really thought I would NEVER have the chance to accompany him since I would be teaching my own students. 

Here are a few moments I was able to capture of my 

very own "Johnny Appleseed"

 I should have taken a picture of my own pants
(dirty footprints on upper thighs) to show 

you how he achieved reaching this apple.

 This little fella loves apples! 

One of his most favorite snacks!

Each friend was able to sign his/her name to a large portion of the barn to commemorate their visit to the orchard. Such a cute way to say "I was here". 

This year away from my own classroom has proven to be such a blessing to me as a mother!

Being able to share this experience with my little guy was more important to me than I had previously thought. 

And to celebrate this blessing, I'm going to pass 

it on to one lucky follower

Two companies that LOVE apples just as much as my little man...

$10 TPT gift certificate 

AND

$10 Apple iTunes gift card

a Rafflecopter giveaway