Ringing in the New Year with a Ring of Bloggy Giveaways!

Ringing in the New Year with a Ring of Bloggy Giveaways!

We're ringing in the new year with a great giveaway! Twelve blogs have joined together for this great MEGA New Year Giveaway!  The winners of the giveaway will be able to choose any item from any of the Teacher Pay Teachers stores listed below.  

Nearly 100 items will be given away in this HUGE event!

Each blog will have 6 winners.

Each blog will select and post 6 winners for that blog.

Third Place: There will be THREE third prize winners that will be able to choose any (of the winner’s choice) ONE item total from any of the blogger’s Teacher Pay Teachers store listed below. 

   Second Place: There will be TWO second prize winners that will be able to choose any (of the winner's choice) TWO items (total)  fromany of the blogger's Teachers Pay Teachers stores below. 

First Prize: ONE grand prize winner from EACH blog that will win any (of the winner's choice) ONE ITEM from EACH blogger's Teachers Pay Teachers stores listed below!

 Here are the participating blogs/ stores: 

 Classroom Confections Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Down Under Teacher Teachers Pay Teachers Store

  

Primary Inspiration Teachers Pay Teachers Store

I Love 1st Grade Teachers Pay Teachers Store

A Teacher's Treasure Teachers Pay Teachers store

Herding Cats in Kindergarten Teachers Pay Teachers store

Third Grade Bookworm Teachers Pay Teachers store

A Special Kind of Class Teachers Pay Teachers store

Mandy's Tips for Teachers Teachers Pay Teachers store

  

Hojos Teachers Pay Teachers store

Teacher Tam's Teachers Pay Teachers store

Tools for Teachers by Laurah J Teachers Pay Teachers store

How do you enter?  There are several possible ways to enter:

1.      Follow my blog and leave a comment and leave a comment on this blog post saying you follow  (or note that you are already a follower). DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN CASE YOU WIN!  

2.      Follow my Teacher Pay Teachers store and leave a comment on this blog post saying you follow.

3.      Blog about this contest  and leave a comment here.


Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry.

 However, there are still MORE ways to enter! You can also follow the blogs and stores of ALL the blogs participating in the list above to increase your chances of winning!  There are at least 24 chances to win even if you DON'T blog!!!! Remember to comment that you follow their blog and TpT store on their blog!

All winners will be chosen on January 6^th, 2012 by 8:00pm Eastern time.

Good luck!  Maybe YOU will be one of the big winners!

Don't miss my latest Valentine's Day freebie!
http://www.teachersnotebook.com/product/Teacher_Tam/freebie-valentine-patterns

Valentine's Day Card Making Center

Okay, so I am WAAAAY too excited because Christmas isn't even over yet and I'm already on Valentine's Day!  It's just that every year I put out some card making stuff for the class.  It's usually just some folded paper, stamps, hearts to cut out, markers, etc.  But look out for this Valentine's Day!!!  I have a newly prepared "Valentine's Day Card Making Center" that allows students to design their own unique cards by cutting, gluing, coloring, copying prepared text, and even MAKING THEIR OWN ENVELOPES!  (Yes, I finally sat down and worked out a nice pattern for that, LONG overdue!)

Anyway, I'm letting everyone know because I have it for 50% off (just $1.50!) until Monday, December 26th.  Sorry I don't have any pictures yet, but I'll be sure to take some when I put it out for the class or maybe earlier if my daughter, son and I make some at home.  Click on the caption below the picture to check it out!

Click here to see my latest activity

As always,

Thanks for reading!

Tammy

The Snowball Game

We are waiting for the snow at our house.  And not because I like snow (I don't), but because that would be the perfect time to play the new game we learned at Language Stars* this week.  It is a perfect game to play both at home and in the classroom.

As usual, the game was very simple, yet effective with toddlers.  My almost-three-year-old son LOVED it!  And so did every other child in the class.  It was certainly proof that you don't have to buy expensive toys and learning materials when boxes and things around the house can be just as entertaining (especially if an expensive toy came in said box).

The topic for the class was winter time (or something like that), so we were learning words like snow, snowflake, snowman, etc.  And what makes a better snowball than a cotton ball?  Very simple:  The teacher took out snowballs, threw them around, gave each child a small net and demonstrated how they should count each snowball as they put it in the net.  My son thought that was the best game ever!  He proceeded to pick them up, count them, throw them around the room on his own, and pick them up again.  And I thought, "This is a definite must-play at home." (Sorry we don't have any pictures, I got caught up in the game, too!)

I'm still thinking about how to best use the game at school.  At home, we'll use it just like we did at Language Stars, practicing "xue hua" (snowflake) and counting.  At school, I'm thinking about attaching sight words to the cotton balls or graphing the number of cotton balls each child is able to pick up.  Even though it's such a simple concept, there are many possibilities!  First, I just have to check to see if I have enough cotton balls!

As always,
Thanks for reading!
Tammy

*We get 50% off of our Language Stars tuition for my blogging.  You wouldn't know I was a couponer, would you?

A FREEBIE and "Silly Bear's Sight Word Addition Games"

My latest product is finished!
"Silly Bear's Sight Word Addition Game" combines addition practice with sight word reading.  The different versions contain nearly all the Dolch sight words and are appropriate for use in grades pre-k to third.  Click on the caption below the picture to take a look:

Click here to check out my latest product

Take a look at the similar FREEBIE that goes with it.  Click on the caption below the 1st picture.  Please take a few moments to add it (and/or my store) to your Teacher's Notebook favorites  :)

Click here to download this reading & math freebie

Thanks for reading!
Teacher Tam

A New Sight Word Book Set for Winter and a FREEBIE!

I just finished my latest product!  It's a set of 5 sight word emergent readers for prek to first with a winter theme.  Each book comes in 2 versions to help you with differentiation.  Over 40 Dolch sight words are covered.  But, the best part is, there's a FREE BOOK to go with it!
1) Check out the set of readers by clicking on the caption below the cover page.  (Don't forget to become a follower of my store while you're there!  My new products are always 50% off for the first 3 days and followers get an email notice of new items.)
2) Get your free book by clicking on the caption below the picture of the book's first page.

Click here to view my new product

Click here to get a FREE emergent reader 

If you like my freebie, I would be very grateful if you would click here to add my Teachers Notebook shop to your favorites. 
Thanks for reading!

Tammy

The Most Mandarin of All?

My youngest son got to go to Language Stars* for the first time this week.  His older brother was sick and make-ups are difficult for us because of our schedule, so I took Will instead.

I knew he would love class before we walked in the door.   We've been working on Mandarin since he was about 6 months old, so hearing the language is nothing new to him.  In fact, I talk to Will in Chinese more than my other 2 children.  Perhaps it has something to do with him being a captive audience in his high chair during lunch time . . . But when I talk or sing to him in Mandarin,  his face just lights up.  He knows it's different and special somehow and he loves it.

So, needless to say, Will seemed to feel right at home in our parent and tot class at Language Stars.  Even though he's only 15 months old, I was still expecting that "what-in-the-world-are-they-saying-mom" look of confusion.  (Maybe I'll own that one:  I probably have that look at lot!) Yet, my son had no such response.  He plowed right on, playing with toys and being all shy with the teachers as if it was perfectly normal that everyone around him was speaking Mandarin (There were 2 teachers this week.  One is a new teacher in training.)  To me, it's just more evidence of how young children process language much differently than we do.  He didn't care if he understood every word or not.  It was as if he was saying, "As long as there are toys and fun activities, count me in, Mom!"

Will probably did recognize some words, though.  The theme was "bedtime routines." We had already learned some of the words from a video that we have.  We use them every night as we get ready for bed.  As the class practiced the vocabulary, Will was so excited to take a washcloth and pretend to give the teddy bear a bath.  (Perhaps he was just glad that, for once, he wasn't the one in the tub.)  Kid-friendly, age-appropriate activities like this kept him engaged the whole time.

The class pretended to give Teddy a bath

I think Will is going to be able to speak the most Mandarin of all.  Even though his only words so far are "Ma Ma," "uh oh!" and "deng" (light in Mandarin), he seems the most interested in the language and has received the earliest exposure.  It will be interesting to see if I'm right.  But whether I'm right or not, there is one thing I'm sure of:  All 3 of them will be able to speak more Mandarin than me!



* We get 50% off our tuition for blogging about our experiences at Language Stars.  I say "we," but I guess it's just me since my 4-year-old can't type yet!