Snap It Up Saturday! Chalking Up Another Week!

Howdy ya'll! Another week back in school and I'm beat! The nerves are a little frazzled due to a bunch of new things that I have taken on but I feel like it may all straighten out pretty soon. I guess I need to drop that procrastination off somewhere and start jumping in as soon as something new strikes. We've been SOOO busy at school I thought I would share a few things that we've been doing this week, along with this week's Snap It Up Saturday! Giveaway.

First off, in math we've been working on remembering our addition with regrouping skills. It seems like those disappear during the summer between second and third grade. Most of my class jumped right in and had no difficulty pulling those old skills back into their repertoires. I still have a couple that need some intervention, but we'll get to that during our flex math block. This week, we grabbed up our iPods and went to work with some QR codes. I have a lively class and they aren't quiet for very long but the iPods held attention like a dream and they worked diligently. All you could hear was the random YES!!! when they solved a problem correctly.

I also pulled out an old Science lesson that I did last year with my kids to show them how water pollution affects animals and how difficult it is to clean up.You can read that post here. The different this year was that I had them put feathers in their pond to represent birds. We polluted our water with cooking oil and the kids had to rescue their "ducks" and attempt to clean them off with paper towels and cotton rounds. Needless to say, the kids realized that their "ducks" died from being covered with oil and that it was next to impossible to get all of the oil out of their pond. Here we are having a bit of messy fun in the classroom!

 It was a good week! We had a field trip to our local recycling center on Friday morning. The kids loved seeing how everything gets sorted (by our state prisoners) and remade into other products. But, even with all of that educational loveliness, their most favorite part...The flocks of vultures that seem to love the area so much.  

Now on to today's Snap It Up Saturday! giveaway. I whipped up a little set of chalk-esque frames for you today. There are nine and they have transparent backgrounds so they can be layered over just about anything. I think they look pretty cute against black and green backgrounds. Maybe you'll find some use for them!

As always, have a great weekend and thank you for following. And just so you know how happy I am to have a 3 day weekend, here's how I feel...

See you next week!

Snap It Up Saturday! Let's Write!

Hey friends! I'm running about an hour behind this morning but I'm here with my cup of coffee and ready to share something great with you all! It's been a crazy week getting all of the beginning of year assessments out of the way and we finally got to jump into some serious writing this week. I LOVE to teach writing. Most teachers despise the subject but it is my all time fave! If we could departmentalize, I would teach only writing, all day, every day! Anyway, my kiddoes this year really struggle with spelling. We aren't very fluent readers but we get the job done, and spelling just doesn't come easy for us. So you get my idea, here's a little sample from one of my kiddoes that I got on Monday. She has good ideas, but the spelling you see really interferes with her meaning.

Spelling is something that is really developmental. Some kids take to it right away, and others just take a little longer. In third grade, we really work on our abilities to spell correctly, and if we can't, we learn to use all sorts of resources to help us get our meaning across. A traditional dictionary doesn't help with spelling--you've gotta know how to spell to find the word to begin with. So, I make special word dictionaries for my kids to use to collect words in. They keep them inside their writing binders and I see them out and being used every day during our writing block. I thought I would share those with you this week since they can be so helpful in the classroom.

To use them, print out a single copy. Then take them to your copier and run the stack front to back. I have my kiddoes cut them apart on the midline and then order the pages. One staple in the corner and they are ready to stick into the pocket of their binder. If you don't use a binder, you can always staple the bundle inside the back cover of your notebook.

During writing conferences, I always give my kids a few words that they really need and we add those right into their dictionaries while we work. It really seems to help my ESOL students, who will often just sit there and write nothing at all when faced with a word that they don't know how to spell. We also add content words and interesting vocabulary words that we run across as we read during our reading block. 

And that's it folks! Once again, with no time to draw, I thought I would share a classroom tool that might make things a bit more manageable for you in the real world. I hope you find my freebies useful and that you will continue to visit my little corner of the teaching world.

Have a great weekend!

Who's That Blogger??? A Fantabulous Linky!

Welcome Everyone!!

         Are you ready to have some fun??
        
                                              ....Play a game?
           
                                                              .....Win  prizes and cash?

I have teamed up with 65 AMAZING blogger buddies to put together the ultimate Back to School Linky/Giveaway!!!

Each one of my blogger buddies submitted a cute childhood photo & generously donated something special from their online TpT shops for this occasion!! We have included a fun game for you to play for a chance to win over $300.00 in prizes and a BONUS  CASH-PRIZE raffle you can enter at the end of this post!! 

CHA-CHING!!

The game is easy to play....

 Your job will be to try and match each blogger with their childhood photo!!! With over 60 childhood photos and bloggers to match up, this might get tricky!! As I mentioned above, each blogger has generously donated one awesome prize from their TpT store. Successfully match a blogger and childhood photo, and you win the prize offered from that blogger!!! The more you matches you make, the more prizes you win!!! 

Check out some of the prizes you could win!!!

but Wait....

That's not all....

ONE lucky follower will win a $125 Amazon Gift Card!! Scroll to the bottom & follow the directions in the Rafflecopter for a chance to win $$$

The link below will open a form that will allow you to submit your answers for the match up. 

Use the blogger links and numbered images to help you along the way!! Each childhood photo has been assigned a specific number. 

Once you open the form, use the drop-down menu beneath each blog button and select a number that corresponds to a childhood photo. 

The form results will be collected throughout the week. At the end of the week, each submission will be "graded" and you will receive a prize for each blogger and photo you successfully matched up!!

The game closes on Friday, August 23rd at midnight (Arizona Mountain Time). Answers will be announced on Saturday, August 24th. Winners will be notified through email throughout the week. 

Use the blog links below the photos to search for clues!!

Click HERE to Play the Matching Game!!

AWE!!! PuFfy HeArT SWEETNESS!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Click HERE to Play the Matching Game!!

Follow the directions in the Rafflecopter for a chance to win a $125 Amazon gift card!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so much for participating!!! Good Luck!!!

If you would like to post about this linky/giveaway, grab the special image below to display in your post and link up below!!! Make sure to use the link to the actual post,,,

An InLinkz Link-up

Snap It Up Saturday! Super Shape Sort and an Exciting Event!

Hey ya'll! It's me again. I made it through the first week of school and I'm just about to get my groove back! My ADD-ness doesn't like not having a structured day in place in the classroom and I have been uber-stressed! It's starting to fade but I have a feeling it will be back soon!...I have a lot on my plate. I'm a wife, mother, teacher, gymnastics chauffeur, TPT author, blogger, and now I'm enrolled in courses for my Gifted certification and am piloting our new teacher evaluation system at my school. Maybe I should go back for my six-year just to top off my leaning tower of sanity! Not really...I'm not a glutton for punishment.

Anyway, I thought I would stop in and share this week's Snap it Up Saturday with you and let you know about a MASSIVE event that is happening this weekend. Drumroll Please.......

Surprise! It's not a clipart collection! But I hope you'll enjoy it just the same. I just haven't had the time to draw like I did over the summer, so I thought I would share one of my math games that I created for my classroom. It's a fun little shape sorting game for grades 2-3, maybe even some upper level firsties as well! Click on the image below to download the file.

And on to a little more pressing news! This weekend, August 18th and 19th, there is a ginormous (yep...according to my daughter..that is a word) Back to School Sale event happening over on Teachers Pay Teachers! My entire store will be on sale for 20% off, and if you use the coupon code from TPT, you get an additional 8% off your purchase as well! If you've got a wishlist going like I do, now is a great time to stock up! Especially if you have some higher priced goodies in your cart. I know my credit card will be screaming at me on Sunday evening, but I can't wait! There are so many high quality teaching resources available on TPT that it's like being privy to a specialized publisher who creates things specifically for you. Make sure you stop in during the big event and snatch up some back to school awesomeness! 

If you're on the hunt for some fun back to school activities, make sure you swing by my store. I have a whole category of BTS materials and they'll all be available at a fantastic discount! And third grade teachers, there are definitely some deals for you! Click below to visit my store.

Have a great weekend and thank you for visiting!

Snap It Up Saturday! Busy Bugs and a Busy Blogger

Yikes! I'm running late this morning but I do have a good excuse. School started on Thursday and it has been a whirlwind of late nights and early mornings. I'm glad to have a minute to breathe this weekend. So far I have a great bunch of kids..very talkative but also very sweet. I've stayed late at work the past couple of days prepping but I'm ready for Monday at the very least. Thank goodness for Planbook.com! My team and I sat down and each tackled a subject for next week, then used the fantastic import tool to copy everyone's plans into all of our planbooks.

But for now, I have something fun for you! Since I've been as busy as a bee this week, I've created some Busy Bugs just for Snap It up Saturday! There are six different bugs, each in color and blackline, for a total of 12 images. They are commercial use and only require a link back to my TPT store.

And I promise I'll be back next week! Hopefully on time...With a bit more to post about my classroom and what's been going on this week. Click on the image below to download the new set!

As always, thanks for visiting and have a fantastic weekend!

Snap It Up Saturday! Fun Font Surprise

Howdy! My little adventure to the Walmart yesterday send a little inspiration coursing through my veins... All that pretty back to school stuff, bright colors, and of course the sights you see while inside Walmart are all very inspiring. Some a little more shocking than others...but still inspired. 

I made my purchases in a hurry before the inspiration really struck me...I walked out inspired to head back to school, head outside for some sunshine, and of course...to never....ever...EVER wear spandex pants. No matter if I ever get thin or not, those bad boys will not be on my "To Wear" list. And there you have this week's Snap It Up Saturday! A fun list of Walmart inspired fonts...sure to bring a smile to your face each time you use them.  Here you go!

In this set, you get four new fonts, each one just oozing some of that Walmart love. My husband works third shift down there and tells me about some of the doozies that he runs into regularly. I just couldn't do it. Make sure you click on the image above to snap up this week's freebies! 

Also, make sure to pop into my facebook page as well. I am changing out the freebie over there as well! All you have to do is like my page to get that one as well!

Have a great weekend!

August Currently.

Hey ya'll! I can't believe it is already August! Just a few short days until I head back into the classroom. Where did the time go? My to do list is still a mile long but oh well, I'm going to enjoy the rest of the summer and spend it the best way I know how. After a short stint at school today, my daughter and I decided to celebrate...with a little treat. 

 Can you tell which one belongs to the six year old? Gag...sour worms, Reese's pieces, gummy bears, M&Ms, and a pile of sprinkles. I think I would die if I tried to eat that. She ate every bite though... Now that we're back home, I decided to join in with Farley over at Oh Boy, Fourth Grade! for this month's Currently linky. Here we go!

Lots of stuff going on at the old homestead today. Gotta get ready to head back to work on Tuesday...:-( 

Listening: Yeah...those minion whistles they put in happy meals...not cool McDonalds, not cool at all. That is one of the most irritating sounds in the world. Grrrrrr....

Loving: My classroom is almost finished! Just a few small things to go and I will be completely finished. Now I can actually use my two pre-planning days for actual planning!  

Thinking: I love to cook, but the mess afterwards is what irks me. That giant cup of fro-yo has me set for the rest of the day. But my six year old...nope. She's hungry all the time.

Wanting: A trip to the old Wally-World and I scored myself a new laminator! I took it to school 

today and started laminating just about everything. Calendar, schedule, if it could be laminated, I did it today. Love that thing!

Needing: I despise shopping for clothes. Well..teacher clothes that is. Park me in the middle of Buckle with a pile of jeans and tshirts and I'm happy. But teacher clothes...ugh. I just look weird in dress clothes. 

And for back to school, I keep it simple. I've got to have a pile of Sharpies, new Pilot G2 ink pens, and spanking new shoes. I wear sneakers every single day so a good pair is an absolute necessity. Most of the time it's a pair of New Balance shoes, but this year I'm trying out a pair is Nike's. We'll  see how those work out for me. 

Well that's about it folks, I've got a mountain of laundry, a sinkful of dishes, and a container to spray paint for school. But I'll get around to that sometime or another. I'll see you back here in the morning for Snap It Up Saturday! 

Have a great weekend!