Get Ready for Next Year!!

Hello my wonderful teacher friends! The year is coming to an end and if you are like me your mind is wondering to next year.....how to make it better and how to set up so that in Aug/Sept. you are ready to hit the ground running! I am printing and lining up my stuff for next year right now and thought, I bet my teacher peers would like to prepare too. So here is a 20% sale so that you too can start collecting your assessments for next year! Have them all in one spot ready to go. Consider ordering the bundles as they will give you a year of tests! I have two literature bundles and one information and they are now 20% off!! Act now and be ready for next year! You will be glad you did it now when the beginning of the year rolls around. You'll feel so organized! :)
Have an outstanding summer and check back with me as I am working on some VERY exciting new things for next school year like a presidential timeline with ALL the presidents, a new spelling program, more assessments and a very exciting brain booster activity for the whole year!!!

Common Core Toolbox

Valentine Investigation!

You know early in my teaching career I use to think, "Why do I need to plan anything for a holiday party? I will just have the parents come, bring food and the kids, parents and I will eat and be merry." Well, after several holidays of eating and being merry with a classroom of 27 2nd graders and their parents, I came to realize it was chaos. And not organized chaos. TOTALLY CRAZY WHO IS REALLY IN CHARGE OF THESE KIDS CHAOS! I found that  for me and  my students to really have fun and enjoy the holiday: I needed a plan. Now I don't want to not have a "party" for my kids or to be the teacher who always finds the learning in everything and doesn't allow her kids to have fun but I found that when we "do" something rather than have just "free" party time, we do have fun! The kids like it better and I like it better. I mean let's face it: don't they run a muck a lot outside of school? When do they really have organized fun? In school that is when! I then started creating really fun activities for them to "DO" during our "parties". Fun for them and I can keep my hair and nails (visualize me pulling out my hair strand by strand and biting my nails as the parents let their children run around the room jumping chairs and screaming while we both look at them wondering who is in charge at this moment). Since Science investigation takes time (let's face it we put it on the back burner most of the time because it takes time we never have) I use this "party" day to have an investigation. I build it up for days to come: the kids can't wait for the day as they get so excited to see what it is going to be about! I know once you try it (investigation "parties") you and your students  will see how much fun it is and how much better it is than giving them all that free time to grind cheetos into your carpet and shove icing up their noses. Follow the link to my TPT to get the investigation. While there check out the Halloween one too! I know once you go to Science "partying" you will never turn back to those "let's see how much junk food we can eat and meaningless movies we can watch parties" again!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Beating-Hearts-A-Conversational-Heart-Valentine-Scientific-Investigation-1084585

First Grade Assessments are unfolding!

So many people have contacted me about doing other grade level assessments in addition to my 2nd grade ones. Sooooooooooo I have first grade unfolding now! I have four assessments for 1st grade and will bundle them when I get all of them done (group of 9 or 10 covering all the common core standards) So far I am focusing on literature and first grade. I will then move on the informational then head off to 3rd grade. I will keep moving through until I get all the grade levels complete. You asked and I am doing my best to get them out there (in my free time ;)

Go visit my store and get your assessment shopping on!

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Describe-Characters-Settings-and-Main-Events-Assessment-972583

Thanksgiving Tom the Turkey in Hiding!

In my younger teaching years, and teaching up North, I shyed away from the holidays; too afraid to offend. Then I got older and moved down south where they still dress up for Halloween and march around the school and have Thanksgiving feasts.  I love that I can still do that! I have wonderful memories of marching around the neighborhood in my costume at school and all the neighbors coming out to wave at us. We also knocked on doors yelling trick or treat and never worried about what might be in our candy or if someone was going to grab us up. In a time of having to worry about such things and school shootings and snipers and terrorist and testing that would make any grown man cry, it is nice to be able to just have fun. Do a fun but education activity that isn't necessarily preparing for a standardized test or tied to common core standards. I have created two Halloween activities and yes, they are educational but you know what? They are just fun too! Plain old fun! I also wrote down my Thanksgiving Tom the Turkey activity too so I can share it with you. I have been doing it for years but just had it all in my head. It's now on paper so I can share it with you. I think far too much we are so focused on the standard, the benchmark and all the other measuring sticks we are held to and in turn forget to just laugh and have fun. Enjoy the day. Enjoy the holidays. Because let's face it, they are not going to be sitting around the kitchen table in their 30's telling their kids that you taught the best math lessons they have ever seen. But they will tell them about the time you decorated a turkey to look like the President's Secret Service Detail!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Lets-Talk-Turkey-934464

Halloween and Thanksgiving Activities

In my younger teaching years, and teaching up North, I shied away from the holidays; too afraid to offend. Then I got older and moved down south where they still dress up for Halloween and march around the school and have Thanksgiving feasts.  I love that I can still do that! I have wonderful memories of marching around the neighborhood in my costume at school and all the neighbors coming out to wave at us. We also knocked on doors yelling trick or treat and never worried about what might be in our candy or if someone was going to grab us up. In a time of having to worry about such things and school shootings and snipers and terrorist and testing that would make any grown man cry, it is nice to be able to just have fun. Do a fun but education activity that isn't necessarily preparing for a standardized test or tied to common core standards. I have created two Halloween activities and yes, they are educational but you know what? They are just fun too! Plain old fun! I also wrote down my Thanksgiving Tom the Turkey activity too so I can share it with you. I have been doing it for years but just had it all in my head. It's now on paper so I can share it with you. I think far too much we are so focused on the standard, the benchmark and all the other measuring sticks we are held to and in turn forget to just laugh and have fun. Enjoy the day. Enjoy the holidays. Because let's face it, they are not going to be sitting around the kitchen table in their 30's telling their kids that you taught the best math lessons they have ever seen. But they will tell them about the Halloween Peeps that expanded or turned nasty brown from the soda you poured on them! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-Fun-for-Ghouls-and-Boys-A-Scientific-Investigation-910843

Fall "FALL"owing Direction Activity

I just made this cutie putie activity for following directions! I love it if I do have to say so myself! There are two activities that the students do: Scarecrow drawing/following direction activity and a following directions to create a pumpkin. You divide your class in half and they complete the two activities then switch so they can do both. When finished with both activities they walk around the room looking for their pumpkin match (one child drew and wrote directions and the other child read the directions and tried to draw their partner's pumpkin based on written directions only).

This is a great activity for that Halloween/Fall Festival Day or just for any day in the fall. It focuses on following the directions so it fits with so many standards and is just plain needed to teach direction following in general. Visit my store to see it. This one you will want to do year after year after year! Your students will love it!



http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pumpkin-Following-Directions-Activity-912447