K-2 Curriculum Bundle

Don't miss this resource-packed curriculum bundle that's available on Educents for a limited time! It includes over $100 worth of products for only $19.99! The resources cover reading, writing, math, science, and social studies for K-2. 

Two of my products are included in this bundle. The first one is "Sight Word Sentences Add and Read for Spring." This set of printables helps students practice sight words, addition, AND fluency. One thing I love about this resource is that students of different reading levels can play it at the same time! Note that, in the picture below, a kindergartener and a second grader can play together! 

The second product is "Addition Fun with Friends." This is a set of multipurpose task cards to help students practice addition facts. They can be used as a card game, task cards, or for a game of Scoot! 

This curriculum bundle contains 20 different resources that are just right for K-2. 

CLICK HERE to take a look! 

Happy teaching! 

Summer Book Recommendations for K-2 and FREE Reading Logs

I want to share a few of my favorite K-2 books with you. For years, I was so focused on providing students with "great children's literature" (Caldecott winners and the like) that I forgot the most driving force behind reading: choice. Children, like adults, are excited to read about subjects that pique their interest. They are much more engaged and willing to read when THEY have chosen a book about something they love. Just click on the title at the top to see each book or series on Amazon.com.

1. Phonics Fun with Barbie by Jennifer Liberts Weinberg (K)

You would not believe how popular this set was with my students! I have had whole groups of students who learned to read early because of this set! It comes with 10 (or maybe 12) small books just right for little hands. Each book focuses on a different word family (like -at, -et, or silent e words) and has high picture support. They are very well done and build on each other. This is a great set for beginning readers! 

2. Lego DC Super Heroes: Phonics Boxed Set by Quinlan B. Lee (K)

Just like the set above, this set of 10 books is highly appealing to superhero AND Lego™fans! The words in this set tend to be a little more difficult, but students do well with them after repeated readings. My son learned to read with this set! (There is also a very similar set available with a Star Wars theme. We have that set, too!) 

3. Princess Posey books by Stephanie Greene (K-1)

I discovered this set last summer. They are PERFECT beginning chapter books. Ms. Greene miraculously uses mostly sight words to write these books. They have simple, everyday story lines, yet manage to engage even the adult! 

4. Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park (K-2)

These books make such great read alouds! Junie's "voice" in the book just cracks me up. While there are some not nice words included (I'll admit that sometimes I skip them), Junie is saying just what many kindergarteners are thinking. Plus, if you're looking for a quick read, these books are just the thing. 

5. Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne (1-2, or read by a parent to K)

These books follow Jack and Annie on adventures to different places and times of historical and/or geographical significance. They appeal to both boys and girls, as well as adults. There is always an interesting story line and several titles have nonfiction books to go with them. 

I hope you find this little list of books helpful. At the very least, I hope it gets you and your student(s) thinking about what they're going to read this summer. No list would be complete without some FREE READING LOGS to keep track of student reading. Just click on the picture below to download a set for FREE! 

Happy summer reading!

10 End-of-Year FREEBIES for First Grade

Here are 10 wonderful FREEBIES, just right for some end-of-the-year or summer review. Take a look at each one and download a set for your students! 

1. School of Fish! Ocean Addition Math Center from Differentiation Station Creations

Download this freebie for an easy-to-assemble addition center. Students will use addition mats and fish manipulatives to solve for each sum. 

2. Popsicle Puzzles: Addition and Subtraction Equivalent Expressions by Krista Mahan Teaching Momster

Students can use this set to practice basic facts and find equivalent expressions. They would work well for small groups, as a whole class activity, or as a math center.

3. Fishing for CVCe Words Memory Game from Kinder Doodles

More fish! This game has cards for a word to picture matching game. It's an easy peasy  literacy center! 

4. Addition Word Problems from Sherry Clements

This set has 3 pages of print-and-go word problems. Students will use number lines, ten frames, equations, and drawings to represent each problem. 

5. Carnival Math Games: Addition and Multiplication from Teacher Tam

This set includes 3 different games: addition, addition with 3 numbers, and multiplication. Each game board comes in color and blackline. 

6. Grammar Task Cards Using Summer Sentences by Teachers Take Out

Students can use these 10 task cards to review nouns, adjectives, prepositions, pronouns, and verbs. It comes with 2 levels of recording sheets. 

7. End of Year Memory Book from The Bulletin Board Lady--Tracy King

This memory book rocks! It has a rock star theme with 5 different pages. This is just adorable and perfect for the end of the year! 

8. Print and Go Math Sample from OCD in First, Shanon Juneau

This FREEBIE has 7 pages of print and go math activities. 

9. Summer Reading Brochure for Parents from More Than a Worksheet

This tri-fold brochure about summer reading includes links to reading websites, tips about summer reading, and more! 

10. Summer Fun Freebie from Happy Days in First Grade 

This fun freebie would be great to send home as part of a summer pack. It has an activity tic-tac-toe, a summer reading log, and a summer vacation mini-poster. 

Thanks for reading! 

I hope you found a few great FREEBIES for your students!

The Teacher Appreciation Celebration GIVEAWAY!

Whoo-hoo! The Teacher Appreciation Celebration continues with a BIG GIVEAWAY! Enter below for the chance to win one of 4 $25 gift cards! (Be sure sure take a look at the terms and conditions.) The giveaway runs from midnight on April 30th thru 11:59pm CST on May 8th. Best of luck and stay tuned to this channel (and my FB page) for more Teacher Appreciation fun! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teacher Appreciation Celebration, April 29-May 8, 2015

It's a party!!! I want to thank you each for your business and for keeping up with my shops on TpT, TN, and Educents. It means a lot to me that you are following my pages and taking the time to leave feedback on my items. SO . . . I want to let you know how much you are appreciated by having a 10-day CELEBRATION! And . . . so my blog followers DON'T MISS THE FUN, here's a central place to let you know what's happening.  I will add a link to this page each day, telling you about the FREEBIES, GIVEAWAYS, and FLASH SALES. 

Day #1, April 29th:

Click on the picture above to grab a MYSTERY FREEBIE from my TPT store! If it isn't for your grade level [sorry :( ] , feel free to pass this one on to a colleague. Grab it before midnight CST on Wednesday, April 29th. At midnight, it turns into a paid pumpkin! 

Day #2, April 30th:

Click on the picture above to enter my GIVEAWAY on Teacher's Notebook! I'm giving away 10 COPIES of the Sight Word Books (Paste, Trace, and Write) COMBO PACK (a $12 value)! AND . . . the giveaway only lasts for 4 days, so hurry to enter! 

Day #3, May 1st:

Click on the picture above to read about and enter the GIVEAWAY on my blog! I'm giving away four $25 gift cards! Ends 5/8/15.

Day #4, May 2nd:

It's a $1 FLASH SALE in my TN shop! You can grab each of these sets for just $1 for 24 hours (Saturday, May 2nd only). Click on the pictures to take a look!

Plus, everything else in my shop is 25% off from May 2-May 8! Use promo code "TeachersRule" at checkout to get another 10% off! 

Day #5, May 3rd: 

Click on the picture above to grab another BRAND NEW, MYSTERY FREEBIE from my TPT store! If it isn't for your grade level [sorry :( ] , feel free to pass this one on to a colleague. Grab it before midnight CST on Sunday, May 3rd. At midnight, it turns into a paid pumpkin! 

Day #6, May 4th:

You can enter for a chance to win one of 3 COMBO packs (a $20 value)! If you keep up with my giveaways on Teacher's Notebook, then you know 2 things: 1) I usually have one running, and 2) I NEVER do giveaways for COMBO packs! I thought I should make an exception for Teacher Appreciation Week! Click on the picture above to visit the page and enter. (Ends 5/8/15 with 3 winners)

Day #7, May 5th: 

Don't miss this FLASH FREEBIE in my TN shop! It's available until 11:45 pm tonight! (a $3 value, grades K-3) Click on the picture to visit the page!

Day #8, May 6th:

It's a $1 FLASH SALE in my TPT store! You can grab each of these products for just $1 for 24 hours (Wednesday, May 6th only). Click on the pictures to take a look!

Plus, everything else in my TPT store is 20% off thru midnight! Use promo code "THANKYOU" at checkout to get another 10% off! 

Be sure to visit this page tomorrow to find out about the next Teacher Appreciation event! 

Sight Word Scrambled Sentences for Spring!

Today, my own littles worked on sight words, grammar, punctuation, and reading with these sets of sentences. My oldest tackled the 2nd and 3rd grade set, while my middle son worked on the set for kinder and 1st. Cutting, gluing, and bright spring graphics made it an appealing, hands-on activity! 

The kindergarten and first grade set includes 60 cut-and-glue sentences. Over 125 Dolch sight words are covered! The second and third grade set has 63 sentences. It focuses on  over 120 Dolch sight words. Both sets include pictures for text that might be unfamiliar to students. 

If you haven't tried a set of these with your class yet, please download a FREE set HERE.

You can find the spring sets of scrambled sentences by clicking on the picture for the appropriate grade level.

Thanks for reading! 

Why We Teach Blog Hop!

Thanks for hoppin' by to read the story of how and why I started teaching! I love to hear other teachers talk about what inspired them to pursue a career in education. I'm happy to join in with my story, too.

Once upon a time, I went to school to be a family therapist. Even though my mom was a teacher, my brother is a teacher, and my dad was a principal, I guess I just had to be different and choose something else. At least I had to try to choose something else.

A few years later, I found myself in a psych doctoral program shadowing a school psychologist. I was sitting in the hall waiting for him to finish a meeting. It wasn't long before some poor, overworked teacher spotted me and hauled me off to help cut out bulletin board materials. Now that I think back on it, I wonder how long it took before the school psychologist A) remembered that I had been shadowing him that day and B) found me hiding from him in the first grade classroom. 

Later that exact same day, I went to see my advisor. "I've got some good news," I told him. "And I've got some bad news. Which do you want first? The good news is that I have discovered what I want to do for the rest of my life. The bad news is, school psychology isn't it." Then, I transferred to the education department. 

That's how it all started, now for the why part. For the last 17 years, I thought I became a teacher to make a difference in the lives of others, to help impart the basic knowledge children need to be successful, and because I want to be rich and famous. (Okay, so scratch that last part.) And I did become a teacher for those reasons. Yet, being home with my own 3 littles this year (mainly as a  chauffeur) has changed the way I look at being a teacher. 

I have realized that I became a teacher because I have the right combination of talents for  it. The things that I LOVE to do and teaching go hand in hand. I enjoy working with children. I find their playfulness energizing and their laughter contagious. Reading is one of my favorite pastimes, so I'm thrilled to teach others to decode words and enjoy the company of a good book. I also enjoy drawing and crafting, building things and creating. What teacher isn't doing this every day?! 

So, I'm enjoying working with my own littles at home. We aren't homeschooling, but we play educational games and build things and work on music lessons. As I work with them, I am realizing why I became a teacher in the first place: because I really enjoy the act of teaching, the creativity that goes into reaching each individual child. Whether I'm at home or in a classroom, being a teacher is part of me. And it always will be.

So don't miss one of my FREE creations for kindergarten! Click on the picture to take a look and download this fun set! 

Thank you so much for reading! 

Hop on by the next blog to hear why Mrs. King teaches!

Telling Time Task Cards/Game and a FREEBIE!

Click on the picture to see it on Teacher's Notebook.

CLICK HERE to find it on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Here's a fun way for your students to practice telling time! Whether you prefer center activities, a game of Scoot, or card games, you have ALL THREE OPTIONS with this set! 

First, the cards are numbered and a recording sheet is included. This is perfect for using them as TASK CARDS in a center or for a game of SCOOT! 

Or, include a couple of these "melting snowman" cards to make the task cards into an engaging CARD GAME! 

I am using this set at home as 2 of my littles (kindergarten and first grade) learn to tell time. We played a game with the cards using the BIG CLOCK! This set also comes with little clocks. They would work well in centers or so that each child could have a clock.

This product comes with the following sets of cards:

1. Analog clocks to the hour and half-hour 

Students must record the time in digital form.

2. Analog clocks to the nearest five minutes

Students must record the time in digital form.

3. Digital clocks to the hour and half-hour

Students must demonstrate the time on an analog clock.

4. Digital clocks to the nearest five minutes

Students must demonstrate the time on an analog clock.

ANSWER SHEETS are also included! They are great for having students self-check.

Click on the picture below to download a 2-page TELLING TIME FREEBIE! 

I hope your students enjoy the FREEBIE! Thanks for stopping by! 

Happy New Year Blog Hop--and a Winter FREEBIE!

Happy New Year! 

First of all, I want to wish you a prosperous, happy, and healthy New Year. Then, I would like to invite you to "hop" through our blogs, grabbing some FREEBIES and taking a look at our winter and New Year themed items. 

My featured item is one of my all-time favorites, the Kindergarten Math Cut-and-Glue Workbook for Winter. 

I LOVE these sets for 3 reasons:

1) This workbook (and similar sets for each season/holiday) covers ALL of the Common Core Standards for kindergarten math. So, using all of the pages lets you know that your students have practiced every CC concept! 

2) These sets help students practice their math AND fine motor skills! Plus, my littles always enjoy cutting and pasting! 

3) These are prefect for reluctant writers. Some of the pages require no writing at all! That's huge for students who struggle with writing. While writing should not be overlooked, I think it's nice to have a resource every now and again where students are not required to write in order to demonstrate their knowledge.  

Click on the picture above to find this resource on Teacher's Notebook.

CLICK HERE to see it on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Plus, ALL OF MY RESOURCES ARE 15% OFF from January 1-4, 2015!

Here's my featured winter FREEBIE! 

This one has been in my stores for a while, but it's a good one! It has worksheets, games, and even a game board for winter-themed addition Bump! Click on the picture below to grab a copy for your classroom!

Thank you "snow" much for stopping by!

Click on the blog button below to hop on to the next New Year post and FREEBIE!