Five For Friday!

I know it's Sunday, but I still wanted to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday!

This week has been spent trying to get ready to present at a Preschool Conference this coming Tuesday. I'm lucky to get to present with my mom! My mom is a retired guidance counselor. This year we are joining forces to present on dramatic play!

Here is the floor of my craft room...

This fun pizza parlor is joining us at the conference. My kids helped me create the pizza stand and the background.

 Kids can order, make, and "cook" their own pizzas. This pizza parlor is not just for preschool. I've had kids as old as 9 begging to play at the "Pizza Place"!  It has definitely been a hit!  I'll admit that I've played there, too :)

 I've had a ton of fun getting ready for this conference. Here's my newest "Five Little Monkey" manipulative. You can see the original here. I think this one was even easier to make!

 

 Last, but not least, is my new sock puppet giraffe. He was a last minute addition, when I saw these perfect socks at the dollar store. They just screamed to be made into a giraffe! 

 Thanks for stopping by! I hope that this week is just as productive, but a little less harried than last week...  Hop over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to see the Five For Friday link up!

Portable Word Walls + A FREEBIE!

I blogged over at The Primary Pack today! Head over to see a real snapshot of my organization skills, (or lack thereof). I also show off my new "Grab and Go" Portable Word Wall Series. I am so excited to share this set of resources.

You can see pictures of it in use and grab a FREE sample of the "School Edition". It is perfect to use at back-to-school time! Head over to TPT to get a FREE copy! Head over to The Primary Pack to see the school pack in action!

Stay tuned for a series of blog posts on the different ways that I use portable word walls with my kids. My brain has been bubbling with the possibilities! Can you tell that I'm excited?!?!?!

BTS Sale and Markdown Monday!

I love Back-to-School time for so many reasons. Back to school shopping is one of my favorites! I love the look and feel of new crayons, the sharp point of a brand new Sharpee, and the possibilities that a blank notebook holds. Yes, it is way too obvious that I am a teacher...

Another sale that I love is the Teachers Pay Teachers annual back-to-school sale! I had tons of great learning resources and clip art on my wish list, itching to jump into my cart. Now the sale is here and I am ready to go!

 Everything in my store is 20% off for the site-wide sale from August 3rd-August 4th. Put in the promo code: BTS15 and get an additional 10% off your cart.

Since teachers spend so much of our own money, I thought it would be nice to put together a great collection of back-to-school freebies. Head over to this post to see the Back-to-School freebie link up. If you have a great back-to-school freebie or blog post, please feel free to link up!

Before I go, I had to share my newest creation! I'm sooooo excited about this new set of learning resources. It is definitely my favorite creation to date.

 I've always been a fan of word walls. I think that they are fantastic resources, but I have not always had the space to utilize them. When I was a special education resource teacher, I worked from a cart in a variety of places. I never had one permanent space to utilize a word wall. I went through a variety of different types of portable word walls- thematic file folders with and without Velcro, words affixed to my cart, a traveling pocket chart, and index cards in strange places. I always seemed to come back to the word rings.

They are portable, yet organized. I like the simplicity of containing all the words on one ring, but the ability to pull it apart and really interact with the same words.

I love the way the word rings lend themselves to grouping words into categories. It creates a great visual for kids when you snap the ring shut on a group of words.

It was natural that I finally got around to creating my own version of the portable word wall. I've been creating this product for about a year. I have printed a number of versions and tried them out in a bunch of different ways. I finally decided it was ready to share. The "Grab & Go Portable Word Walls" are available in a small and large version to meet your needs. Here is a quick look below.

 I'll be sharing more about the "Grab & Go" walls soon, but here is a visual tour of some of my ideas...

You can pick up the "Grab & GO: School Version" for 50% off until the morning of 8/4. Put in the BTS15 promo code and get another 10$ off!  I hope that you love it as much as I do.

 

I also would love to take any requests for future editions. I am almost done with the farm edition.

Leave me a comment with anything you would like to use in your own class!

 

I've also linked up with Kelly and Kim's Kindergarten Kreations for the Markdown Monday Link Up! I've marked down my Devouring Donuts: Number Line 0-20, Subtraction, and Active Learning pack. You can pick it up now for $3.20 + an extra 10% off with the promo code. That is a steal!

Happy shopping!

Five For Friday!

This is my first time linking up with Doodle Bugs for Five For Friday!

This is such a fun linky party! I've always loved seeing all the random stuff that other people post, so I decided that this week I would link up, too!

I spent the last week at my mom and step dad's lake house. It is always a great time there, but this summer we got to spend it with my brother and sister and their families. They both live on the other side of the country, so it is such a special time to be all together. All of our kids were in heaven playing with their cousins for a week!

 

I got to spend hours playing with 6 kids under the age of eight. My idea of heaven- for real! We spent countless hours playing with duck tape. I think we made everything under the sun. My favorite creations were our duck tape vegetables! I wanted to make some for a sensory table, so I had the kids help me make them. They turned out AWESOME!!



I'll be posting DIY directions when I get a chance!  Update: You can see the DIY here.

My dad passed away 10 years ago. My kids, nieces and nephews were all born after he died. However, this week I heard every one of the kids talking about "Granddaddy", as if they saw him yesterday. It warms my heart to know that he is still present in every one of their lives.

 

We celebrate and remember him, with a special tradition, every time that we visit the lake. We always find and leave a special stone at the bottom of his tree, a beautiful weeping willow that my mom planted overlooking his lake.

 

This year was especially beautiful, because all of his children and grandchildren were there. We each decorated a stone, kissed and placed it under his tree. Beautiful.

I don't have a scanner, but my mom has one at her house. Every time I go down there, I scan in more of my families handwriting and create more fonts! I am such a dork, but I get a huge kick out of writing on the computer in other people's handwriting! You can see my original post on my font-creating obsession here.

I had a little too much fun back-to-school shopping this week. I found too much for me, instead of the kids! One of my impulse buys that I can't seem to regret is this ridiculous monster pouch. I already have a smaller hot pink monster that I use to eat all kids of stuff, so I didn't need this purple monstrosity with "grillz". This guy made his way into my cart and I actually paid $7 for him. I know that it's ridiculous, but some things you just have to have...

My last tidbit is giveaways! I am a sucker for a great giveaway! I am part of a great giveaway over at It's Elementary, My Dear! We are giving away 4- $50 gift cards from Target. Head over and get a chance to win!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my 5 for Friday! Hopefully, I can get it together to link up again :)

Back-To-School Freebies! Link-Up

I can't believe that back-to-school time is almost here for many of us! Whether you have one day left, or one month, it's always great to get new ideas and be prepared for the beginning of school!

I thought I would kick off the back-to-school season with a Freebie Link-Up. I am always so excited to see the creativity of other teacher authors. I also love sharing great ideas with other teachers and parents, so this is the perfect forum to do both!

Please feel free to link up any of your Back-to-School Ideas and Freebies! I can't wait to see all the creativity!

I'll start it off with a free back-to-school bump game. This addition game is great to get kids adding with dice. They can bump opponents off the spaces for added fun! Head over to TPT to download your free copy.

 I also have a free back-to-school scrambled sentence game. Kids can physically move the words around to find the correct order of the sentence. It's great for kids to focus in on the capital letters and punctuation in a sentence; as well as, checking if the words make sense. Download this freebie here.

 I just started a Pinterest board with tons of Creative Back-to-School Ideas. I can't wait to add your great ideas, too!

Link-up your back-to-school freebies on the link-up below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Play to Learn!

I blogged over at Classroom Tested Resources with some fun ideas to get kids playing to learn!

Kim, from The Very Busy First Graders, shared some other awesome playful ideas + a math FREEBIE! Be sure to check them out!