TpT Shopping Spree

Thanks Erica for the cute graphic!

Since most of the sellers on TpT are participating in the 20% off for Teacher Appreciation this week, I decided it was the perfect time to spend my TpT gift card that I won in a blog giveaway. I do love a good sale especially when I am getting some items that I know I will put to good use!


Here is what I purchased:
Click on the title of each item to go to the TpT page


1. There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Shell Math & Literacy Pack
My kinders will love this unit as we are learning about the ocean and beach this month. This is the unit I always end our year with since we live so close to the beach. This pack is based on the adorable book There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Shell.

2. Zero the Hero Classroom Counting Fun
I always love using Zero the Hero every 10th day of school and this unit has given me a whole assortment of new activities that I will be able to use next year.


3. Community Helpers Unit: Math, Literacy & Social Studies Centers
Since we always do a community helpers unit in January, I thought this would be a perfect addition to my classroom.


4. Wild and Wacky Weather! Math & Literacy Activities
Weather is one of the units we teach in kindergarten that is based on our state science standards. I loved this unit because it has both math and literacy activities around the theme of weather.

I am linking up with Erica at Erica Bohrer's First Grade to show off my purchases.

Don't forget that I am also running the 20% off sale in my TpT store thru tomorrow as well. I have posted my new ocean unit: Under the Sea - Math & Literacy that is also on sale.

I Appreciate You! (My First Giveaway!)

Graphic courtesy of:
 MelonHeadz

Since this week is Teacher Appreciation week and you have all been such an inspiration to a newer blogger like me, I wanted to host my first giveaway. I have had over 100 followers now and have wanted to do a giveaway for a while so I figured now was the perfect opportunity!

I will be giving away 1 copy of my unit Lovely Ladybugs which has both literacy and math activities. I will be using Rafflecopter for this giveaway since I have heard it is the easiest to use. The giveaway begins today and ends Wednesday, May 9th. I will draw a winner on Thursday, May 10th. Good luck!


There are 3 chances to win:
1 - follow my blog
2 - blog about my giveaway
3 - follow my TpT store


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget that the unit is also on sale thru Wednesday in my TpT store for 20% off to make it $3.40.

Teacher Appreciation Week

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week so I thought I would share this wonderful poem that I absolutely LoVe!! I love all of my bloggy friends who inspire me to be a better teacher on a daily basis. Thank you for all you have done for me and the other bloggers as well as your students both past and present!

“Why God Made Teachers” 
When God created teachers, 
He gave us special friends 
To help us understand His world 
And truly comprehend 
The beauty and the wonder 
Of everything we see, 
And become a better person 
With each discovery. 
When God created teachers, 
He gave us special guides 
To show us ways in which to grow 
So we can all decide 
How to live and how to do 
What's right instead of wrong, 
To lead us so that we can lead 
And learn how to be strong. 
Why God created teachers, 
In His wisdom and His grace, 
Was to help us learn to make our world 
A better, wiser place.

BTW: I am participating in the TpT Teacher Appreciation sale and offering 20% off of my Lovely Ladybugs unit if you would like to purchase it.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Marvelous Mother's Day (Freebie Friday)

Graphic courtesy of: DJ Inkers

Since Mother's Day is coming up on May 13th, I thought I would share a poem that I like to use for Mother's Day. I print the poem on cardstock or colored paper and then paint the child's hand to stamp on the paper. I also let the child write his/her name on the bottom with a pen or marker and then laminate it to send home with the child for Mother's Day. The moms always love them!

Mother's Day poem (2012)

Please leave me some feedback if you download this freebie. Your comments make me smile!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Here's what's making me happy today!

1) My beautiful spring plants and flowers! I love digging in the dirt and planting new spring flowers. I always enjoy creating my own combinations of flowers in baskets and pots.

2) Pinterest teaching boards! I have found so many teaching boards on Pinterest that have helped me get new materials and ideas for my classroom.

3) Only 21 more school days left before summer break! I am so excited about this summer. As soon as school gets out, I will get to spend time with my best friend who lives in Texas. I can't wait!!

4) Creating new materials for my TpT store! I only have 8 followers in my store, but I am hoping to create more materials and get more followers as the time goes on. Right now I have created 1 unit for my store and quite a few freebies are there too!

So, what are you loving this Wednesday?

Common Core Math (W/ Assessment)

As I have told you before, this is my first year back in kindergarten after teaching first grade for 3 years. This is also the first year that our school district's kindergarten classes have implemented the Common Core standards so I have had a lot to learn in one year. Next year, first grade and second grade will join kindergarten in teaching the Common Core standards in our school district. Since our kindergarten is just learning the new Common Core standards, we are fumbling feeling our way through them.

During the last quarter of the school year, we are assessing some of the more difficult Common Core standards. I created an assessment for the math Common Core standard K.OA.4 (For any number from 1 to 9, find the number that makes 10 when added to the given number.).

This is a freebie that I have uploaded to my TpT store. Please leave me some feedback if you download it. I would also love if you would follow my TpT store. Thanks so much!

Donors Choose Match

Donors Choose is once again offering a match code so that donations can be matched dollar for dollar. This match code is offered by Starbucks, MSNBC, and Morning Joe. The code is: MORNINGJOE. If you would like to donate to a project, just put in this code when you are checking out and your donation will be doubled. If you want to donate to my project, click on the banner below. I would love to have some more leveled readers for my classroom!

Freebie Friday: Addition Story Problems

The view from my classroom door this morning!

Here is another activity that I created to go with our life cycles unit. I hope you all have a great Friday! 

Addition Story Problems

This activity sheet focuses on the Kindergarten Common Core Standard K.OA.2 (solve addition and subtraction word problems, and add and subtract within 10 by using objects or drawings to represent the problem). I read the story problems aloud to my kinders and they drew a picture to represent the story problem in each box. Then they wrote the addition problem to go along with their drawing.

Please leave me a quick comment if you download this freebie!

Summer Plans Linky Party

Lori at Fun for First is having a linky party about our summer projects and fun plans. I love linky parties so I had to join. It also got me thinking about setting down some concrete plans since we only have 26 school days left! Woo Hoo!!

Summer Projects:
1) Create some activities for my newly opened TpT store

2) Create some of the cute ideas I have pinned on my Pinterest boards

3) Wipe down the baseboards in my house 

4) Dive deeper into the Common Core standards 

Summer Fun:

1) Going on a vacation with my sweet husband (unsure of where at this point)

2) Spending some time with my toes in the sand at the beach with a great friend in June 

3) Read some of the great books I have been hearing about

Learning About Life Cycles

I have created a few more things to use during my insects/life cycles unit. During this unit, I start by teaching about insect life cycles and then work my way into other animal lifecycles like frogs and alligators.

To end this unit, we go on a field trip to learn more about animal lifecycles. This field trip lets the kinders learn about pond animals and their life cycles. They also get to visit a butterfly house and go on a row boat ride of the swamp. It is a fun and exciting time!

Bug Punctuation Sort

This is an activity that my small groups will be using to practice naming ending punctuation sounds and putting the correct punctuation at the end of a sentence.

Frogs CVC words activity sheet

This activity sheet has the kids practice sounding out simple CVC words. I still have kids that are struggling with hearing all the sounds in words. This is an important skill for their writing so I wanted to give them more practice.

Frogs Long Vowel Sort

This is a game I created to use with my small groups. It has frogs that the kids sort onto the correct long vowel log. It could also be introduced whole group and played in a literacy center/box.

I hope you can use some of these activities as well! If you download them, please leave me a comment! They make my day!

Freebie Friday: Addition Sheet with Counters

TGIF! Let's just say that I am thoroughly exhausted from the week back at school after Spring Break. Monday was pretty calm, but the kinders have gotten their speed back as the week moved on. To top it all off, today was Kite Day at our school so we had 125+ kinders attempting to fly kites on the playground without any wind. Just imagine all the complaining I got to hear! It was rather exhausting exciting!

In other news, I created and posted this freebie to TpT. This activity sheet is downloadable from my TpT store. If you are not already following my TpT store, I would love it if you would. Also, please rate anything that you download. Thanks so much!!

Bugs Addition Sheet with Counters

5 Things I'm Loving in April

Jodi at Fun in First is having a linky party about 5 things you are loving in April. Spring is my favorite time of year so this is the perfect linky party for me to join!

1) Over 100 followers! I am so excited. I never thought I would have this many followers in the seven months since I started my blog. The encouraging comments you have given me have meant so much to me.


2) Pinterest! I am loving all the new pins that I find daily. I only wish that I had access to Pinterest at school, but it is blocked...YUCK!

3) The spring weather! It has been nice and warm here in SC and mostly sunny. The warmest day we have had so far was 91 degrees but most days have been between 70 and 85 degrees...perfect spring weather!

4) Flip flops! I love being able to pull mine out of the closet. They are my go-to shoes for spring and summer! Now my feet can get some sun and I can show off my cute pedicure!

5) Only 31 days of school left! I love this group of sweet kinders but I am looking forward to summer break too.